The Gun Show
by qjhayes11
Summary: R&I, Castle, L&O Crossover. Rizzoli is sent to Springfield Illinois to a Law Enforcement gathering called LETO. There she meets new friends and signs up for some exciting Cop games. But trouble comes in the form of accidents and a dead body. Together with her new friend Beckett, she must find a killer and win the most intense game in existence. Pre Rizzles/Caskett but some implying
1. Chapter 1

**_Here it is, I have enough finished to start posting. This is the base of my crossover stories, I hope you enjoy. Pleas comment and comment often. love to hear them._**

**_As Always, the characters and TV shows belong to their respective owners, distributors and studios. I have nothing but the utmost respect for the characters and the fine talent that makes them come alive each week. All names are the properties of their respective companies and manufacturers. Nothing in here is mine except for the original plot and original characters._**

**_Please understand that in expressing my own creativity with your characters I am merely expressing my affection for your work. So please sit back and read the story of your ideas used in a free entertainment environment written by a poor, broke amateur and laugh at my ridiculousness._**

**_Ms. Harmon, Ms. Katic, Ms. Hartigay, and Mr. Meloni, as an admirer of your work I have tried to stay true to your portrayals and still have some fun while being respectful in every way._**

* * *

><p><strong><em>Prologue<em>**

**_LETO –_**_A ten day event held the day before Armed Forces Day to Memorial Day,_

_In 2008 the dates were May 16 to May 26._

* * *

><p><em>"…<em>_and speaking of Springfield, its back again. The 8__th__annual Law Enforcement Tactical Operations Expo hosted by the Springfield Arms Corporation. A tradition started in 2000 originally to show the Arms Manufacturers appreciation for our city, county, state, and federal men and women in Law Enforcement._

_After the first two years being held in the LAPD Swat Facility, the event became so large that Springfield began searching for a new facility to host this event. Which lead to the purchase of Ft. Lincoln outside of the arms manufacturers' home town of Springfield Illinois in April of 2001. Realizing the potential uses as a training facility, Springfield arms poured $680 Million in renovations, turning an old neglected military installation into a top grade testing station and training facility. However Springfield Arms has since reminted a name for the fort in a statement by CEO Gilbert Huff on May 17__th__, 2003…_

_'__Every aspect of running a corporation like this requires a certain amount of flexibility. To have one thing that performs a specific function and be adaptable to function differently. The Purchase of the old Fort Lincoln was one of best and most forward thinking decisions that I have had the pleasure of being a part of. Because it was once a Military arsenal, its layout and facilities are ideal for ballistics, fragmentation, arms development, training, durability and a truly wide variety of sciences pertaining to freedom and defense. But let us not ever forget the true reason for its purchase, to host Springfield's annual Police and Federal Agent appreciation event. As CEO I have the honor and privilege of thanking you for your services and we thank you for coming to the Law Enforcement Tactical Operations expo._

_'__So without further ado, on behalf of Springfield Arms, the Department of Defense, the Department of Justice, and all of our vendors and supporters, Welcome to LETO 3 and welcome to Fort Justice.'_

_Since then, LETO has become the premier event for law enforcement personnel. Hosting has always been done by Springfield, but every year they open the fort to all manufacturers of tactical equipment. Names such as Glock, Sig Sauer, Five-Seven, Browning, Smith and Wesson, and Mossberg have become common place at the event. Along with newer names to the event like US Armor, Blauer, TacOne, Remington, Osh Kosh Defense, and even the big three autos in Detroit have been rumored to be sending their latest edition police vehicles to this year's gala._

_LETO 8 is again being held at Fort Justice, outside of Springfield Illinois, the opening ceremonies will be held on Armed forces Day and will continue on to Memorial Day."_

* * *

><p><strong><em>Chapter One<em>**

**May 13****th****, 2008**

**BPD Division One - Homicide Bullpen**

**Boston, MA**

"Really?" The husky female voice rolled out across the room. Yet again, the owner of that voice leveled a malevolent glare at a dark skinned detective with the shaved head. "If you put half as much effort into your cases as you do in these lame ass jokes you might actually close one once in a while."

Jane Rizzoli used her left hand to slide a pen out of her desk drawer and flicked yet another offensive object into the garbage can she held in her right. Once finished she loudly tossed the can back under the printer and plopped down in her chair. Trying desperately to ignore the snickering behind her, she ran her hand through wild dark curls that fought combs as hard as she fought for justice.

Letting out the breath she was holding, she dropped her hand and tried to focus on her emails. It wasn't like she couldn't deal with the stereotypes of being a woman in a male dominated profession, she could. She could also deal with assholes like Detective Darren Crowe insinuating that she slept her way into a detective's badge. She knew the truth, she earned it. She could even handle the attacks against her sexuality, found less though they may be. Crowe loved to make her the butt of his gay jokes. But the only thing that really gets under Jane's skin, when he turns those accusations against the ME.

The Chief Medical Examiner for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Dr. Maura Isles, is the epitome of feminine beauty in a truly testosterone driven environment. Having a gorgeous head of honey blond hair and beautifully toned body that was constantly wrapped in the most glamorous and perfectly cut dresses that cost more than Jane makes in a month, Dr. Isles always looked regal and unapproachable, and ready for the next photo shoot in the latest fashion magazine. Though Jane's romantic interests are not with women, even she could admit (at least to herself) that Maura Isles was both gorgeous and alluring.

So when she came back from lunch to find that stupid rubber finger sitting on her desk she really didn't think a lot of it, until she read the toe tag attached to it.

In handwriting not Maura's, "_J- Heard about your breakup, thought you'd like to keep the most memorable part of your girlfriend. Don't worry, her body will never be found. Love, M"_

It took nearly a full 30 seconds before Jane could move, fearing her anger might land her back into Lieutenant Raymond Marquette's office, again. The surly commander of their division didn't like issues, such as one of his detectives laying out another. So Jane bit her lip and swallowed her pride and let it go. Or at least she was trying. Punching out detective Crowe ranked second on her list of nightly recurring fantasies, right between sex with Gerard Butler, and hanging out with Godsmack.

She had almost managed to get over it when Lt. Marquette walked by, "Rizzoli, in my office!" He shouted without even breaking stride from the elevator to the door. He opened the door and left it.

Jane glanced at Detective Barry Frost, Her newer partner. His wide eyes brilliant against his deep brown face. He mouthed to her, _what did you do?_

As she got up she shrugged in an "I don't know" gesture. Quickly she marched into Marquette's office.

Frost shook his head, _I really like working with Jane but does she have to get in trouble every other day._ Frost straightened up as his desk, worried for the fifth time this week if Jane's issues with the Lieutenant were going to somehow backlash on him. When he had been partnered with her eight months ago, he had been excited about it. The so called "Bitch with the Brass Balls" was a force to be reckoned with, and it took Frost all of two days to learn that this woman knew more about solving murders than his last two partners, who had a combined total of 53 years in Homicide.

Even though he was in prime of his youth and in great physical shape, he often found himself being left behind when they were chasing down running suspects. Jane however, was now two years into her thirties and despite her being a woman, she still out ran him and out tackled suspects. Almost every aspect of working with Jane had caused Frost to push himself, mentally, and physically. Except computers, he had her beat there. Frost smiled to himself; _at least I bring something to this team._

"Think LT (pronounced "el tee") might toss her out of here this time, and then you can get a real partner, Frost." Crowe laughed as he headed for the coffee pot, "a real partner who has real balls."

_I should leave it alone._ But Frost knew the truth, he liked his partner. He looked up to her and learned from her. The things she did and the directions she took were the stuff real cops didn't get. So he let Crowe walk passed, planning his move, "She's got bigger balls than you, and she's twice the cop." He watched carefully as Crowe poured the dark liquid into his cup. His eyes not missing a single detail of Crowe's movements, just like Jane taught him.

"You'd rather work with a dyke who likes pissing off the LT? You're going to have a really short career my friend." Crowe chuckled again as he started the trek back to his desk. Frost turned in his chair but remained seated. He wanted this to look like an accident…

* * *

><p>Jane stepped into Marquette's office casually as if nothing could be out of place in the world. Secretly her heart had sped up, but she couldn't say why. She really couldn't think of anything she had done wrong. Steadying her voice she spoke, "You wanted to see me, LT?"<p>

Lt. Raymond Marquette sat his six foot two inch frame down on the edge of his desk. The wood protested audibly at his 248 pounds. "Shut the door."

Jane turned away and blanched as she reached for the door. After returning, she stood in the center of the office, worrying the scars she bears on her hands. She took a deep breath and waited.

Marquette watched her carefully. Although he admired Rizzoli's bravery, he still didn't like that she had taken "The Surgeons" scalpels in her hands and her neck and refused anything more than basic psych evaluation. He pushed her constantly, hoping she would either crack here in HQ, where no one else could get hurt or show that somewhere she had gotten help dealing outside of the department. As far as Marquette was concerned, she was an unknown with a gun. As Lieutenant, he needed to know, one way or another. Still, she was a good cop and a great detective.

"How's the hands doing, Jane?" He said. Watching her like the cat in front of a bird cage.

His use of her first name put her on the defensive, more so than when she walked in, "There good, LT. Forget about them most of the time." Jane made a conscious effort to stop rubbing her hands.

"Good." Marquette eased himself up to walk around the desk, "Got some changes around homicide and I wanted to get you clued in." He eased his large build into his overburdened chair.

Jane felt her heart stop. _He's going to fire me. I'm the best one here and he's going to can me because I got tits._ She forced those thoughts out of her head. Allowing herself one deep breath, she met his gaze levelly. She would not show fear, ever. Silently, she stared at him.

_THERE IT IS!_ Marquette thought as he met Rizzoli's eyes. Those chocolate eyes that burned into his, daring him to do whatever it was he called her in for. _Let's see if she'll crack._

"Detective Korsak is coming back to Division One Homicide." Neither eyes wavered, "You going to have an issue with that?"

Jane willed herself not to flinch at her ex partner's name, the only person who ever saw her weak, and broken. "No sir."

For those few seconds everything other than the others eyes faded from the room, one set of blues were probing, looking for weakness, the other brown ones determined to show none.

"You sure, about that," Lt. Marquette asked. "Cause I know that business with Hoyt couldn't have been easy to deal with."

Jane's eyes turned to anger at the mention of Charles Hoyt, but it was only for an instant. _Anger is better than fear. _Marquette thought. _She just might make it._

"Yes sir. I'm sure. I have dealt with my issues with Hoyt. The bastard is behind bars and justice has been served."

"Good." Marquette broke the stare, "I got a job for you."

Jane cut him off, "Sir, with respect, I'd like to stay in homicide."

"It's temporary," his look stopped her cold, "as in ten days. May 16th through the 26th."

Jane gaped at him, "That's only three days away!"

"Have you ever heard of the LETO Expo?" Marquette asked, ignoring her outburst.

"I think Korsak mentioned it once." Jane rolled her eyes, "Like a cop seminar or something."

Marquette smiled, the gesture seemed to soften him somehow, and Jane felt the tension easing from her body. He gestured to one of the chairs.

"It used to be something like that but over the past eight years it evolved into something else entirely. There are the usual seminars on techniques and procedures but it has a lot more to offer. Showcasing all of the latest technology and equipment for Law Enforcement as well as every major arms manufacturer and body armor company will be there. Lt. Logan from the armory is heading up there to evaluate his next purchase for BPD. If I were you, I'd offer your experience to him while he checks things out."

Jane shifted uncomfortably, "LT, I really don't think this is my kind of thing."

"You're going, Rizzoli." Marquette stated, "Sergeant Hill is on medical leave due to a motorcycle accident and the commissioner told me to send someone." He pointed two fingers at her, "I chose you because you've never taken a vacation day that wasn't forced. So it's you."

"LT, seriously? It's not like this is going to be a vacation." Jane complained, "I'll take a weekend off or something."

Marquette stood up, eyeing her with annoyance, "It's what you're going to make of it, and you're getting ten days off, Paid round trip, no BPD responsibility but a full pay check. I wish I could go in your place but since I can't, might I suggest you enter into one of the shooting competitions, or the patrol stunt course or some other fun, adrenalin causing activity? In any case, you're on leave at this moment so grab your gear, head to the armory and sign out your tactical kit. "

Jane slunked down in her chair "I'm not going to get out of this am I?"

Lt Marquette shook his head, "But look at the bright side." Jane glared at him, "Attend one of the training courses and you get to tell Crowe that BPD is sending you to Springfield for specialized training."

Jane smiled despite herself; the LT knew about the finger gag and was unofficially backing her. She walked out of the Lt's office with a huge grin as she ran back to her desk to get her sidearm.

"Everything good, partner?" Frost asked.

Jane glanced around, "Where's Crowe?"

Frost hid his eyes, "He went down to the locker room to change his suit."

Jane smirked at her partner, "What did you do?"

"Nothing," His innocent face was betrayed by the smile creeping up, "Crowe on the other hand can't seem to walk from the coffee pot to his desk without tripping."

Jane laughed hard as she headed out.

* * *

><p><strong>May 14<strong>**th**

**NYPD 12****th****Precinct - Armory**

**New York City, NY**

Adrenalin coursed through her veins as she finished signing the paperwork the desk sergeant had handed her. She had been looking forward to this all year. Ten days in Illinois, of all places. She tried not to fidget while the Sergeant filed her paperwork and inventoried her equipment. As she watched she went over the list in her head.

_Secondary weapon, Glock 19 with surefire under barrel light and laser sight. Three empty magazines. Tactical Rifle, Springfield M-4 Carbine with surefire Barrel light and Sightmark laser scope, six empty magazines. Armor, Blauer bullet proof vest. Leapers Tactical equipment vest, Protech Delta 4 helmet with Motorola tactical radio…_

Over and over she ran through the inventory, mentally placing them both on her body and put away for the ride out to Springfield. She had spent the better part of this week meticulously packing for her trip, clothing for 10 days, even though she knew she would have laundry services. Carefully cleaning and maintaining her service weapon. She even went down to her storage area to change the oil on her bike. Everything was well thought out and carefully made ready for this very day.

"You want a hard case or bag, Detective" The sergeant called out as he logged the last serial number on the ID card.

Detective Kate Beckett shrugged on her leather jacket. "A duffel bag would be best, Howard. I'm riding out this year."

Armory Sergeant Howard Marshall chuckled softly, "You ride out to LETO every year, I suppose I should just stop asking but I know the one time I don't ask, and you'll fly out." He gently placed each piece into a large black canvas bag and secured it with a lock. Sliding the whole thing onto a cart he grabbed a key and began pushing the mass out of the gun cage.

He handed her a clipboard and the key. "Have fun, Detective."

Beckett smiled warmly and signed her name and badge number and handed it back before lugging the large weight up onto her shoulder. "Thanks, Howard. See ya in two weeks."

As she made her way to the parking deck where she left her bike, she ran through her route to Illinois. Almost all of it was two lane back roads through Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana. Not that she minded that, in fact it's what she preferred when she rode. A smile was already reforming on her face as she thought of what was to come.

* * *

><p>The black Crown Vic slid neatly into the parking stall next to the black Harley with silver inlays. Detective Javier Esposito looked over it as he rolled up the window. His partner, Kevin Ryan leaned over the driver's seat for a better view. Esposito whistled low at the sight. As he turned back to shut off the cruiser he was startled by his partners proximity. Shoving him back sharply, he glared at him.<p>

"Dude, do you have to get so close?" Esposito groaned, "Seriously, you couldn't just get out and look?"

Ryan popped his seat belt off, "Sorry, man. That thing is awesome, couldn't help it." He pulled the door handle and climbed out.

Esposito scratched his head right behind his ear, _Please don't let him drool on it._ He unhooked his own belt and climbed out to find his partner crouched down next to the Softtail, eyeing the chrome longingly.

"Don't breathe on it, the owner _will_ kick your ass." Esposito said as he ran an appreciative eye over the paint.

Ryan stood up sharply, "How do you know they'd even know where to find me?"

Esposito shook his head as he adjusted his jacket, "Some detective you are. Didn't you look at the plate?"

Ryan stared at him a second then walked to the rear, "KB 41319"

"And that doesn't mean anything to you?" Esposito waited, "Nothing at all?"

He watched with amusement as the younger detective tried to connect the dots, and failed. Finally taking mercy on his young friend, Esposito drew it out for him.

"KB, Kate Beckett, Badge number 41319. Two years we've been teamed up with Beckett and you haven't learned a damn thing, have you?" Esposito ribbed.

Ryan stood up straight and instinctively took a step back, "oh shit."

"Yeah, Oh shit." Esposito said. He nodded his head towards the building entrance, "And that's how she'd know."

Ryan turned around to find himself staring at a side of Beckett he'd never seen before. Her tall, lithe frame was clad in skin tight black leather pants supported by a meanest looking set of combat boots he'd ever seen. A slim black leather riding jacket with Kevlar pads covered the tight Harley Davidson baby-doll tank top, and the shoulder holster she almost never wore. Her dark chin length hair was pulled back low behind her ears, with a set of predator sunglasses perched on her nose, concealing those penetrating brown eyes. The large black duffel bag was slung low across her back.

Ryan shuddered as Esposito nudged him, "What do you want to bet that that bag is full of guns?"

Beckett stalked towards them like a trained combat vet, her very stance oozed badass. As she approached she lifted a finely shaped eyebrow, "You know boys, I'm a little old for the showy send off."

Using her foot, she lifted the lid on one of her saddlebags and pulled out a small gym bag with her free hand. She promptly dropped it on the cement floor and slung the heavy bag across the back seat.

Esposito chuckled as Ryan tried to explain, "No, we just came back from court. We weren't waiting for you or anything." He took a nervous breath, "We got distracted checking out your bike."

Beckett reached into the gym bag to retrieve a spider web bungee which she used to tie the bag down to the bike. As she began she glared at Ryan, picking up on Esposito's humor, "You know checking out someone's bike is like checking out someone's ass." She leaned over the bike to tie the far side.

Ryan's eyes went wide as he tried to stare at anything other than the very part of the conversation that was now pointed squarely at him. Esposito had to turn away to contain his laughter but not before catching the smirk on Kate's face.

Esposito loved this time of year. Every May, the ball busting, hardworking detective, let her hair down the week before she headed out to Illinois. It made for some great jokes and good times. Usually Beckett would head out to the local cop bar for a few brews before she left in the morning, but she already told him that she was heading out tonight. With a fourteen hour trip and the one hour time difference she figured she could make it right after midnight, leaving two hours of hanging out with her LETO crew tonight.

Ryan cleared his throat as he became focused on a scratch on the Crown Vic, "So ten days off in the woods of Illinois. Didn't figure you for much of a camper."

She laughed as she shoved the small gym bag into the gap in the saddlebag. Swinging one long leg over the Harley, she reached for the helmet, "I bunk in an old hangar with some friends."

"Really," Ryan turned to look at her steely gaze.

"Oh yeah," she said as she straightened up the bike and pulled back the kick stand, "We got running water and everything." She laughed as she started the Harley.

Ryan and Esposito watched as she backed up, stomped the shifter and roared out of the parking deck.

"Nice." Esposito said as he headed toward the elevator.

Ryan jogged to catch up, "What did I say?"

Esposito shook his head, chuckling as he boarded the elevator.

* * *

><p><strong>May 14<strong>**th****,**

**Kennedy International Airport - Domestic Departure Terminal**

**New York City, NY**

The black GMC Savanna pulled up to the curb smoothly before stopping in a red zone. The airport police officer standing on the curb would have said something to the driver except for the vinyl NYPD shield and lettering conspicuously adhered to the sides and back of the vehicle. Instead the transit cop watched as the passenger doors opened, depositing a lean, well-built man with dark brown hair that receded from his forehead. His clothing suggested a plain clothes cop or a detective; a white button up shirt with a striped tie and matching suit jacket and pants of a more durable nature. As he straightened up to an intimidating six foot height he caught the eye of a luggage porter. As he approached with a cart the detective reached into the backseat and was handed a slim subtly patterned designer purse.

He laughed loudly, "I hate holding Kathy's purse in the mall and you stick me with this at the airport." He rolled his eyes and scanned the area for onlookers as he shifted the purse to his other hand.

A slim feminine hand took his and the body it was attached to came out of the back seat, revealing the owner of that purse. The transit cop did a double take at the woman. Approximately 5'7", she had a very athletic build that was accentuated by the nearly black jeans and the low cut cotton t shirt that hugged every inch of the gorgeous figure. Chin length reddish brown hair that was lighter than the man's, framed a classically beautiful oval face set with deep brown eyes that seemed like they could read into your soul.

She reached into the van to pull out a small leather jacket that she slid on before relieving the detective of her purse, "Yeah but mine is a lot more subdued than that floral monstrosity your wife carries around." She watched him laugh with that intense gaze of hers.

As the porter approached, the woman walked around the van and opened the back doors. Inside were two heavily used NYPD blue equipment cases. The woman pulled out a duffel bag and a roll behind suitcase while the detective lugged the two hard shelled cases onto the cart. Once he was finished he glanced over to the Airport Police officer. He waved his hand, an indication to come over.

The transit cop looked around as he walked to the van, "Can I help you, Sir?" He said, hoping he hadn't been caught checking out the woman.

The man pulled out his badge, "Detective Stabler. This is my partner, Detective Benson." He tilted his head to the woman. "Could you contact the T/A Security officer in charge and have him meet us at the security checkpoint for Flight 604 to O'Hare?"

"Is there a problem, Detective?" He said.

"No problem, just procedure." The female cop said, "The Transit Authority likes to know when weapons are being loaded on planes."

The transit cop took a cautious step away, "Weapons?!"

Eliot Stabler shot a look at his partner, Olivia Benson, before continuing, "Relax. Its tactical weaponry and equipment assigned to us by NYPD but there's _no_ ammunition."

Benson fired off a disarming smile, "Our equipment and travel arraignments have already been cleared by the NYC T/A so all we need is for you to call the T/A Police OIC to meet us at the security checkpoint." She turned her smile up to about a hundred watts and the transit officer tried to hide his, and failed.

He reached for his radio and called it in. Stabler and Benson lead the porter and the transit cop into the terminal. By the time they checked in there were four transit cops escorting them to the security office. A tall, wiry man was waiting in a holding room. Upon seeing them he greeted them warmly.

"Jacob Marks, I'm the Transit Authority Chief here at Kennedy."

Stabler shook his hand then stepped back to lean against the wall. Benson repeated the handshake but stood straight next to her partner. "Don't remember this being this much of an issue last year."

"I imagine not but we've had some missing luggage issues recently so I just want to confirm your inventory and security." The Transit cops set the two cases on the table. "So what do we have here?"

Elliot and Olivia reached into their pockets and pulled the keys to unlock the cases. Elliot flipped the lid, "Tac vests, helmets, standard body armor, AR-15s, pair of Glocks, radios. Basically a full tactical load out minus ammo."

Marks nodded as he noted the equipment in a note pad, "Where are you heading, again?"

Benson blew out an irritated breath, "O'Hare then Springfield."

Recognition filled Marks' ice blue eyes, "Ahh, Going to the LETO conference." He wrote more in his notebook before looking at one of the other cops, "Greg. I want you to ride with these cases and see to it they get stowed and secured on this bird. Don't let them out of your sight till the hatch is closed and they taxi out."

Greg nodded as he closed the cases. The two detectives secured their locks and replaced the keys in their pockets. As the transit cops took their luggage into the back areas, Chief Marks escorted them to the plane. After checking in with boarding, Benson reached into her pants pocket and pulled out a cell phone. As she flicked it open, she smiled, "Beckett just left the twelve. Said she'll keep the beers _warm_ for us."

He laughed at the joke, "Remind me to get her a good six pack this year, something that _really_ brings out the bitter when it's warm."

Marks stared at them as Benson shut down her phone. "Warm beer?"

They laughed but Elliot explained, "We got stuck with a busted fridge a few years back and swapped it with a friend's before she got there. But we forgot to take the beer out of the busted one. Our friend drank it out of spite, said she couldn't let good beer die over something as stupid as room temperature."

Benson cut in, "Ever since then, whoever gets there first unplugs the others fridge and put a six pack in it. It's an inside joke that kinda became a tradition."

Marks shook his head, remembering the last warm beer he drank, and then shuttered, "Horrible. You have a good flight, detectives." He turned and walked away, trying not to think about warm beer.

Stabler and Benson laughed as they boarded the plane.

* * *

><p><strong>May14th,<strong>

**Springfield Arms Training Center - Building 283 **

**Ft. Justice, IL**

Sergeant First Class Colin O'Malley set the heavy dumbbell back on its rack before reaching for the towel draped across the bench he had been working out on. He flipped it open to a dry section before wiping the sweat from his cheeky face. He tossed it into the towel basket hanging next to the rack and walked over to the water station where his phone and shirt were. The persistent beep from his phone that indicated a text message is what had interrupted his last set of curls.

He flipped open his military issue Nextel and read the text from one of his favorite people. He laughed out loud at Beckett's words about warm beer for her NYPD Comrades.

He keyed in a brief response before setting the phone down and tossing his shirt into the basket with the towels. As he walked toward his room he looked around at the converted aircraft hangar that was his home. He had thought it was used as a garage but later found out that it had housed a single p-51 mustang fighter. A hold over from WWII, had the base ever been attacked and communications compromised, a single fighter could escape with news of the battle.

It was tucked deep into the woods on the opposite side of the airfield and the other hangars which gave him the privacy he liked. He converted the four offices on the back wall into two private guest rooms, each with its own stand up shower and latrine. He then added rooms with private baths on either side of the massive door. Last he built a loft overhead for his own quarters. The ground floor area was now T-shaped so he packed an impressive workout area in on the left and a small wet bar and lounging area on the right. The open center was where they were parking motorcycles, the only other type of vehicle permitted on the base besides the various golf carts and quad rangers available at the motor pool.

Colin climbed the steps to his loft and headed straight for the bathroom. He sat down on the toilet and began to undress for a shower. Slipping off his combat boots and black cargo fatigues, he stood up to look at the scars across his back and right side in the mirror.

Jagged and ugly, produced by explosives and gunfire, it was a reminder of why he pushed for the better training. It was urban combat that had left him so marred. Not that he was vein about his appearance but he hated when others asked about them and he really hated the pity in their eyes when they did it, which was why he kept them covered most days. In his mid-thirties, O'Malley was tall, and covered in well-defined muscles and Irish and Celtic tattoos. As he stared at the tattoos he couldn't help but admire the one that Liv Benson had suggested.

On his right deltoid was an Irish cross with four equal lengths overlaying a Celtic circle. He had it for years before Liv, half drunk, said that it seemed to be missing something. Within a minute of conversing with her Irish catholic partner Elliot Stabler, she had it.

So now wrapped around the outside of the circle were the words_ "__May the Lord keep you in His hand and never close His fist too tight._" Since the cross had been in memory of his mother, he had initially been put off by her statement, but once he heard those words he remembered that it had been one of his mamaí's favorites when he was a kid. He thought it appropriate and explained the cross to her. So the next day he and Liv, while still nursing that hangover, had gone into town to see his tattoo man.

He chuckled to himself at the memory because what no one else new about was the small tattoo that Liv had decided to get in an area not seen except in a bikini. To his knowledge even her partner of ten years didn't know to this day about the little tigress tattoo that she carried low on her left hip.

Immediately his thoughts went to the one Kate had insisted on buying him two years ago. High on his left shoulder, just below a shirt collar was the green shamrock with a bright red lipstick kiss imprint over top of it, and tattooed in Kate's own handwriting _"__may the hinges of our friendship never grow rusty"_ he shook his head, chuckling loudly, before turning to his shower.

As the scalding hot water ran down his defined muscles, he smiled at the thought of his closest friends coming back. Always a ridged soldier and an unyielding instructor, O'Malley seldom let anyone in. But for ten days, he kept good company in Detectives Stabler, Benson, and Beckett. Three people with whom he could just be himself because no one put any expectations on him.


	2. Chapter 2

**_And here we go. Drinks anyone?_**

* * *

><p><strong><em>Chapter 2<em>**

**The Shield Bar and Grille**

**Ft. Justice, IL**

Kate Beckett rolled her Softtail up onto the sidewalk in front of The Shield. Like The Sabre, the old Officers club down the street which now catered to government personnel, the former NCO's club serves police officers and their guests. She smiled as if seeing an old friend as she shut down the Harley and locked it up. She slung her long leg over the bike and confidently strode through the front door.

Beckett took in her surroundings as she stepped up to the bar to get a beer, Not very busy, mostly event workers, but she knew that over the next two days that would change. She smiled at the bartender, "Hey, Mitch!"

He turned around from restocking a cooler at her voice, "Holy shit." He laughed as he pulled out her favorite beer, "NYPD Detective Beckett. Welcome back, babe."

He pulled out an order pad and wrote her name on it before tacking it up on O'Malley's corkboard. He then handed her the beer, "I'm supposed to give you a warm one but if you drink it here," He tilted his chin to the corner table, "those two won't know any better."

Beckett glanced over her shoulder discretely to see Benson and Stabler engaged in conversation. "Shit. When did they get here?"

Hearing a tap at the end of the bar he glanced down to the patron at the end, "About 8:30." He pulled a Boston Lager out of the chest in front of him, "Said they got in around 3 this afternoon." He popped the cap on the beer and headed down to the other end.

Beckett watched his posture change as he neared the slim figure sitting alone. As he set the beer down he said something to her. She leveled her eyes at him and he backed away. As Mitch headed back towards Beckett, she observed the solitary woman.

A slim built, but like her own, athletic with dark eyes and long untamed curly black hair. She looked to be of Italian descent but it was clear by her posture that she was definitely having a bad day. Dressed in lightweight black boots, black slacks, with a blue cotton V-neck tee shirt, she was pretty despite her mannish clothes. Because her matching blazer was draped over her bar stool, her badge was revealed on her belt. Attitude radiated off of her like heat waves barely visible, this was a woman who was confident in herself and was not in the mood for anyone's shit.

As Mitch came back, Beckett stared at him, "what's with the attitude?"

Mitch sighed, "It's kinda justified. She's been here since 2 o'clock." He sighed as he wiped down the immaculate bar. "She got assigned to an all-male building with communal showers. She's pissed because Reservations hasn't done anything to fix it."

Beckett blanched, "What?" She looked down the bar, now with sympathy in her eyes, "Has anyone told Colin?"

Mitch shook his head, "As far as I know, he's been MIA all day."

"Well that's kinda to be expected," she said, pulling at her beer, "Tomorrow is opening day. But you can usually find him at his place then."

"Yeah," Mitch agreed, "But she's not the only one and he's gonna be pissed when he finds out."

Beckett picked up her beer and stood up, "Yeah." She headed toward the lanky brunette.

Mitch chuckled, "You're a brave woman, Detective Beckett."

_Comes with the job, _she thought. As she neared the angry woman, she could feel the keep away vibes coming off her. Beckett blatantly ignored them and plopped down in the stool next to her.

Chocolate brown eyes bored into her own, "I'm really not interested in conversation." She said crisply.

"Yeah, well." Beckett pulled at her beer, "I can't have you scaring the life out of my bartender. Messes with the flow of beer and in the four years I have been coming here, I have yet to see the bottom of my bottle."

"Yeah well, I have to knock the bar for mine." She grumbled.

Beckett smiled, "That's because he's intimidated. Which isn't easy, by the way, since he used to be Infantry." She held her hand out, "Kate Beckett."

The black haired woman shook it in a firm grip, "Jane Rizzoli."

"First time here?"

"Yeah." She picked at the label on her beer, "The guy who was supposed to be here had an accident so my LT threw me in the van, or under the bus depending on how you want to look at it."

Kate stared at her in disbelief, "I got two partners who were begging our captain to let them go. That's just in my squad. There's a waiting list a mile long in my precinct." She drafted another sip of her beer, "You sound like you don't want to be here."

"I don't." Jane stared into her bottle, "I'm sure this kind of thing is fun to some people but I've been to cop seminars before. I think I'd rather hang out in the morgue and talk about dead people with my ME. At least she's entertaining when she's not the talking google."

"Really," Kate waved Mitch over, "Honey, this ain't no cop seminar. This is LETO. It's not like any experience you've ever been to." She pointed at the two beers and Mitch nodded, "And as an experienced LETO vet I am going to make it my mission to show you the fun side of this place."

"Thanks but I think I'll just hang out here for the next two weeks."

Kate blew out a frustrated huff of air, "Look. The way I see it, you and I aren't all that different. Women Homicide cops take a lot of shit. You have a tough edge to you so you've been doing this awhile." She watched Jane's eyes and knew she nailed that mark, "I've had to deal with it too. We'd both go insane and start popping off rounds into the ceiling just to cause some excitement if we were stuck in those information-overload-stare-at-the-PowerPoint-presentation things."

Jane's attention was focused solely on Kate now, "I hate those things. You can find them here but they suck. This is more like the Sturgis Bike Week for cops. There's something here for everyone. I come for the games. I'm sure we can find something right up your alley."

Mitch came over, deposited the two beers and left without a word. Jane studied Kate for a moment, "How did you know I'm from Homicide?"

"The big neon sign over your head." Kate smirked, "It says Homicide cop, with a big arrow pointing straight down at you."

Jane laughed out loud, "I thought I was the only one who could be that sarcastic."

Kate set her empty down and picked up the Lager and her own beer, "C'mon. I'll introduce you to some friends you can match your wits against. They won't be as challenging as I am but…" She slid out of the stool and headed for the corner booth.

Jane rolled her eyes and picked up her blazer to follow the other woman.

Kate plopped down into the far chair next to the window, "Flew here again, eh?"

Elliot glanced at Olivia, "Liv hates riding in a car on long trips."

"HA!" she scoffed, "More like his wife would have a fit if we stopped at a motel."

Kate chuckled as Jane joined them, "So this is Jane Rizzoli, she thinks this is another one of those shoot-yourself-in-the-head seminars."

Again, Elliott glanced at Olivia, who smiled, "Ooo, a rookie. I love it."

Jane eyed her evilly, "Ten years on the force, sistah."

Olivia returned the glare, but the amusement in her eyes betrayed her, "Fourteen for me, honey."

"What division?" Jane's glare broke into a grin, "Child Services?"

Elliot choked on his beer, "In a manner of speaking."

Kate watched as Jane questioned the partners, "Really, what division?"

"SVU." Olivia said straightly, the humor had disappeared.

Jane looked to Kate as she felt the energy turn raw from those two. Kate explained, "Special Victims Unit. They deal with the worst there is, sex crimes."

Jane's eyes went wide. "Oh," she said, an apologetic expression passed toward Olivia and Elliot.

She had heard how large police departments had created special divisions who deal with pedophiles, rapists, and other horrendous crimes of abuse. It was dirty work. But it was a job that many cops considered noble to work in the worst cases possible. Of course, Jane suspected that the ones who called it noble couldn't do it themselves.

"Jane is a Homicide Detective." Kate said, breaking the tension that was always inevitable when they spoke of their job.

Elliot broke first, "Ah." He held up his beer, "Elliot Stabler. This is my partner, Olivia Benson."

She took her lager and clanked it to his. Elliot turned to Kate, "Another Homicide Detective. Trying to balance out the table, Beckett?"

Kate wore a wicked smile, "Well, I thought I might have some fun at your expense, _Ely_."

Jane glanced around the table, "Look, if you two want to be alone, I'm sure Olivia and I can find something interesting to talk about at the bar. Like nail polish or toe lint or… something."

Olivia laughed so hard she had to set down her beer before her hand shot to cover her mouth. Kate tried in vain to keep a straight face while Elliot covered his eyes in embarrassment.

Olivia gained a measure of control before looking at Jane in admiration, "I like her already."

Kate called out to the bartender, "Mitch! A round on me for my friends!"

Mitch nodded and rang the bell over the register twice.

* * *

><p><strong>Several Drinks Later,<strong>

Jane couldn't remember the last time she had more fun just hanging out in a bar. Sure she hung out at the Dirty Robber after work to unwind from time to time but this was different. The three people at the table were complete strangers to her but maybe that was it. Maybe the fact that in ten days she wouldn't see them again was the reason she let her hair down so to speak. The banter was smooth and unhurried. Each person had a lot of fun bouncing off the others. Her sharp sarcasm was freely accepted good-naturedly as if she had been friends with them for years. As an unwritten rule, they all avoided talk about cases, but enjoyed the usual department jokes and stories about amusing things that each had witnessed. Jane felt better than she had since _he _had scarred her hands. She was welcomed without challenge, until her phone vibrated.

As she pulled it out of her pocket she heard Kate's vibrate too, but she missed the significance as she flipped open the ESPN update. The Boston Red Sox won against the New York Yankees. Jane reached up, made a fist, and yanked it to her chest with a loud "Yes!" to emphasize her jubilance when at the same time Kate tossed her phone down, shouting in frustration.

Jane and Kate's eyes met then went wide and that cocky smirk crept across Jane's face at the realization that Kate was on the opposite end of a very old rivalry.

Kate leapt to her feet, "Awe, Hell NO!"

Jane tried to get the grin off her face as she stood, she really did, but it refused to go.

Elliot sat his beer down, staring at the two women, "Clearly I missed something really significant." He glanced to his partner who expressed an equal amount of puzzlement.

Kate glared daggers at Jane, who continued to smirk, "The Yankees lost to the Sox tonight. She's happy, I'm not." They stood with barely a few inches apart. "What does that tell you, Stabler?"

Elliot turned his eyes to Jane, "Oh shit, say it ain't so, Jane."

Jane slipped her BPD Detectives badge off her belt and set it on the table, face up. "Born and bred."

Kate yanked hers off and tossed it next to Jane's. "Me too, NYC all my life."

Olivia laughed as she picked up Jane's badge and studied it, "El and I have a friend from Boston."

"I think she was a better friend to you than me," Elliot said with a knowing grin, "Beckett, did you know Alex Cabot is from Boston?"

Kate broke gazes with Jane to stare at Stabler, "I thought she was a New Yorker."

Olivia shook her head smiling, "Most people do. She doesn't talk about it for the same reason you two are toe to toe. Jane, you ever heard of the Cabots from Beacon Hill?"

Jane turned too, puzzled, "Yeah, their real big on funding for Boston Cambridge University. Think the old man was a professor or something."

Stabler snorted, "Headmaster was more like it. That's Alex's Grandpa."

Kate turned back to Jane, "God this sucks, I was just starting to like you."

"Yeah, well," Jane's smirk started to creep in again, "I'll buy you a condolence beer."

_Oh, no. She didn't just say that. _Beckett eyes turned to steel, "Condolence beer?" She couldn't help it.

The smirk turned cocky, "My condolences for your loss."

Beckett tried to be angry, to hold that steely gaze against her opponent, but she lost it. Kate burst out laughing as she fell back in her seat, "I can't believe you actually went there."

Jane plopped down next to her, "I grew up with two brothers. Sometimes it's hard to pull the cheap shots."

Kate took her beer half amused and half insulted. She glanced to Stabler, "We're drinking with Boston PD. You okay with that?"

Jane looked across the table, "seems like I'm missing something now."

Stabler slid his badge on the table. Jane stared at it, _"__Merda."_ (Italian equivalent for 'shit')

Benson's head perked up and in a soft Tuscan dialect she spoke directly to Jane,_ "__Do you speak Italian, Belissima?" _

Jane's eyes snapped to Olivia's,_Does she know what she just called me? No she couldn't have. _Mustering some light Italian sarcastic inflections, she returned, _"__Um ,yeah. Hello? Rizzoli, remember?"_

Olivia laughed heartedly, _"__Absolutely wonderful. I love your dialect, Bella. Did you grow up with it or did you learn on your own?"_

Jane shifted in her seat at the smooth flowing words spoken from a mouth fluent in her language, _Oh, she knows exactly what she's saying. "Yeah. My Nonno and Nonna came from the old country. We all had to learn it from the cradle. How 'bout you?"_

Olivia smiled warmly, _"__I learned some in High School and picked up the rest in college. And it's so wonderful to speak with someone not a suspect or victim. Can we converse together later in Italian, Belissima?"_

_There's that word, again. "Sure." _Since Olivia learned in college, there was a good chance that someone misinformed her of what _belissima_ meant.

"Did you ever get that feeling that you're being deliberately left out of the conversation?" Stabler said to Kate.

She sipped her beer, "Probably making fun of us."

Jane eyed her evilly, "Just talking about your misplaced loyalty to a team that's sadly lacking."

Olivia laughed, "Careful, Jane. Kate's big on drinking challenges."

"Mitch," Kate shouted, "Can I get a set up for Tequila Roulette?"

Stabler winced, "Here we go."

* * *

><p>Colin rolled up to The Shield just in time for last call. Seeing Kate's bike on the side walk he smiled as he slid his Harley low rider next to it. Shutting it down, he heard the signs of a ruckus inside. Quickly he dropped his helmet and headed inside. As he burst through the doors he saw his friends Kate, Elliot, and Liv back to back with a brunette he never seen before, squared off with a group of guys wearing LAPD shirts. Colin put two fingers to his lips and let out a shrill whistle.<p>

In a thick Irish brogue that let most know just how angry he was he shouted out, "What in the name of hell is going on in here?"

They stopped to stare at him, "Seven on four? Three of them ladies."

Someone shouted drunkenly, "They ain't ladies, them's dykes." Colin's face turned red.

He pointed at the four in the middle, "Out Front!"

Liv smiled at Jane before winking, "don't worry, backup just arrived." She patted her new friend and they headed for the doors. They stopped just inside to watch.

Colin walked right into the middle of the LAPD group. "You want to fight with my friends, you fight ME FIRST! Outside, right now!"

A sergeant glared at him, "Why wait?" He threw his fist at Colin's face. Who caught it twisted and putting his foot into the man's rear, shoved him towards the door. Kate and Liv opened the doors so the man could stumble through. He fell on the stairs. Stabler grabbed him and helped him out the rest of the way, roughly.

After that is was on again, but Colin had made quick work of the offending group and within a few minutes all seven were outside in the dirt parking lot. They tried to square off with him again. Colin leered, "Now we're talkin'."

Jane was about to run in when Kate grabbed her, "He's got this."

"He's outnumbered, by a lot." She slurred.

Elliot laughed, "No he's not. They are."

Liv smiled as she slipped an arm over Rizzoli's shoulder. "Among other things, he's a hand to hand combat trainer. He can take up to ten and knows how to engage a hundred."

Rizzoli, in her half drunken state leaned in to Liv for stability, "Engage a hundred?"

She smiled as she watched, "in war, he can get a hundred guys occupied in a fight or in trying to fight him. That's a hundred guys that are too busy to fight a war."

Kate slipped Liv's arm off Jane and slid between them, "Careful Liv. She's tanked."

Rizzoli was too stunned to respond as she watched the man who came to their aid battle with the seven men. It was clear what Liv was saying because not a single one of them had landed a punch on him. He himself never actually hit them, just tossed them around, and pushed them away. It was a few minutes before they became too exhausted to fight him.

Colin stood up straight, "If you want to report this, go right ahead. But I guarantee you'll be tossed before I am." He walked out of the group and headed back to the bar.

Mitch was leaning on the door frame, half the bars patrons stood behind him. He held up an unopened bottle of Harp Lager, "Your crew had it covered you know."

"I know," His brogue faded a little, "But I can't get thrown out of my own event, now can I?"

Elliot stepped up with a handshake and a bro hug, "Damn, nice to see you still got it."

"Do I even want to know what happened here?" He said sharply.

"Just some chauvinistic pricks that got grabby." Kate said from behind.

Colin swung around and picked her up in a fierce embrace, "This guy I could get over not seeing. You my dear, I miss every year."

Kate hugged him warmly before letting him go, "Careful, you might hurt his tender little heart."

He laughed as he punched Elliot in his arm, "He's got to have a heart before it can get hurt."

Stabler jokingly put his hand over his chest as if wounded, an exaggerated stagger later, he was laughing.

Liv pouted, "Do I have a heart?"

Colin grinned, "Of pure gold, my love. If you'd let us get you a pacemaker, we could sell your heart and we'd retire to a tropical island and be rich." He slid his arms around her, holding her tightly but tenderly, placing a gentle kiss on her forehead. "Missed you too, lass."

She held him tightly, a tear slid from her eye. Since he kept in contact with all of them, he knew where the sudden uncharacteristic sadness came from. He patted her head gently, "We'll talk later, ok?" he whispered into her ear.

She nodded.

As she let him go, he looked to her. Making sure she was holding it together. He then turned back to Kate who was leaning into the very attractive black haired woman he seen fighting earlier.

"Kate, when did you join the dark side?" he said in jest. As he finally took the beer from Mitch.

She patted Rizzoli's black mane softly, "She's a good drinker and a great fighter but sadly, as gorgeous as she is, I'm not into that."

Rizzoli rolled her eyes, "Stop moving, I don't want to suffer the indignity of kissing the dirt." She slurred sarcastically.

Liv laughed, "She can barely stand but give her a fight and she's rock steady." She slipped her arm around Jane's waist, "C'mon Kate. Let's get her back into a chair."

Colin laughed as the girls lugged Jane inside.

Once seated back at the table, Colin eyed the new woman, "New partner?"

It was Olivia who answered, "Nope, she's from Boston."

"Kate standing with Boston, when the Yanks lost to the Sox?" He shook his head, "feel like I was the one on a bender."

She glared at him, "Don't remind me."

They laughed and Colin extended his hand, "Colin O'Malley from Southey."

Jane's smiled sloppily, "Jane Rizzoli from Revere." She shook it firmly. "You a cop too?"

"Army." He said, "But I work for Springfield Arms as a consultant, liaison, test shooter, event coordinator and this week, Provost Marshal. Luckily we haven't had any hang-ups yet."

Kate shook her head, "Oh shit. Has anyone told you?"

Colin turned to her, "Told me what?"

"Jane got assigned to an all-male building with communal showers. I guess she's not the only one."

Colin turned to Jane, "Huh?"

"Guess they had an issue with reservations or something." She slurred.

Colin's eyes angered almost instantly his Irish accent returning full force, "Can you excuse me?" He got up and pulled his phone out of his pocket before walking to the men's room.

"He'll get it straightened out, in a hurry." Kate said.

"Who is he?"

Elliot face turned confident, "He's the Chief of Competitions, but LETO was his creation so he actually pulls all the strings here. Because no one told him about your problem, he'll take as a personal insult."

As if on cue there was some yelling from the restroom.

"I don't care if you have to book the goddamn Holiday Inn from the ground to the roof! You get those females out of that building and into hotel rooms within the hour or overtime is going to be the last thing on your mind when I come to fire you! And I want 367 ready to go by twelve-hundred hours. Round the clock till it's done! And if you _ever_ hide something like this from me again, you're going to take up permanent residence at Walter Reed, _do you get me_, asshole!"

A loud thump echoed out of the bathroom a minute before Colin walked out, phone still to his ear.

"Griggs, its Colin, Pull the locker for Jane Rizzoli, Boston Police. Bring it to 283 and secure it in room three. Make sure her luggage gets there too. Also get someone over there and replace that rack with a good mattress, not that crap that they bought from Greg's. Alright." He paused, "No. I need it done yesterday." Another pause, "Yeah, that's alright. I'll take care of it for you. Out."

He snapped his phone closed and sat at the end of the table, "Jane I apologize for this mix up. We have some new people working the event this year and I should have rode herd on them better. Please understand that I will see to it that you have no wants or needs unmet during your stay here with us."

Jane nodded, "Thanks but it's not your fault."

Colin waved a circled finger around to Mitch who nodded, "Actually it is. This is my event and I take it personally when people don't do their jobs. So I have arraigned for you to have the best accommodations Ft. Justice can offer. You'll be in my building along with your new friends here. It's private and quiet. The bar is open all night and you get to do whatever you wish so long as you don't burn it down. Also, I took care of your drinks tonight and have made arrangements for you to have a BRP 4 seater delivered to you tomorrow."

Jane stared at Kate, "El told you he'd take this personally."

Mitch carried a tray of beer and passed them around, "It's last round folks. Come back tomorrow or I can arrange a private bartender to come to the hangar."

"I think we're good tonight, Mitch. But thanks." Kate said and the others muttered agreements.

Olivia picked up her beer and announced directly to her partner, "One more beer and you can take me home." She joked.

Elliot laughed, "Kathy would shoot you if she heard you say that."

Kate leaned in to Jane, "Kathy is Elliot's wife of something like 15 years and Liv has been his partner and best friend for over ten. She's a little insecure about Liv."

"Well she _is_ awful flirty." Jane said quietly.

Kate ran her eyes down Jane's body suggestively, "Oh honey, you have more to worry about than Kathy does."

Jane eyed Liv with new insight, _Guess that answers the belissima question._


	3. Chapter 3

**_**_Okay, so one of my all time favorite fan fic stories is a one shot called "Just a Crush" and was written by DragonKatGal. You should really take five minutes and read it. I loved the story so much that I treat it like SVU cannon. It's a solid base for the Olivia/Alex so enjoy. I included a brief overview here not as pagerism, but as a shout out to this wonderfully tallented writer. DCG- Keep up the great work._**_**

* * *

><p><strong><em>Chapter 3<em>**

**Building 283 - Room 3**

**Ft. Justice, IL**

**The next morning,**

It was a vicious pounding that had awoken Jane. As if someone was beating a drum to a steady rhythm next to her head. It took her a moment to realize that said offending drum was actually inside her head.

_God, how much did I drink last night?_ She cracked open her eyes slowly, thankfully someone had drawn the blinds closed. She carefully took in her surroundings which were completely unknown to her. The pounding increased as she failed to recall where she was or how she had gotten here. The only thing that had given her any comfort were her two suit cases on the dresser and the steel cage she had locked her equipment in yesterday afternoon. But again, how it had gotten from the base armory to this room was a mystery.

She slid out of bed to find herself dressed only in her sports bra, boy short briefs, and socks. As she searched through her suitcase to find something to wear she tried to recall the night's events. It wasn't easy, but she recalled the three Tequila Roulettes, she seemed to get the shot all three times. She remembered heading to the bathroom with Kate then to the bar. She remembered the taunts and leers from the LAPD Gang Unit. She even remembered the guy who grabbed Kate's ass and received a near instant crack to the jaw, courtesy of a Rizzoli fist. That explained the pain in her hand.

The brawl that ensued and the Irishman who broke it up were very blurry, so was he taking out the Gang guys. But everything after that was just a blank. She struggled to recall anything else but it refused to come without her morning caffeine induction. _Coffee! _The craving slammed into her knotted stomach like a lead weight.

A knock sounded at her door before it was pushed open. Kate Beckett carried in two mugs of steam that immediately made her stomach light with the thought of the hot goodness to come.

"Hey, you're up already," the other woman said before passing a cup over.

Jane snatched at the cup and inhaled its fragrance, "Mhhh."

"It's Hazelnut." She said before sipping it, "Colin has a thing for hazelnut and nobody has been in town yet to get anything else."

"Don't care." Jane said before sucking in a large gulp of the too hot coffee. "Oh that's heaven." She took a smaller sip.

Kate smiled, "Shame they don't put it in an IV."

Jane rolled her eyes, "I'd need rehab if they did." Now that her stomach wasn't protesting its misuse last night, details from last night began to creep back in. Kate's words about Olivia took the center stage with the sole spotlight. Jane looked down at her apparel.

"Oh hell," Jane cursed, "Do I want to know?"

Kate smiled, "Not really, but don't worry. I put you in bed. Liv never made it back before passing out."

A breath of relief lurched from her chest, "Oh, thank you."

"Worried, she's going to knock you up?" Kate asked with a laugh.

"Not even remotely funny." Jane took a sip before setting the cup down to slip on her robe. "I don't do women or one night stands."

Kate noticed the defiant ton in her voice as if daring anyone to say different, _probably didn't take well to the gay jokes she got on the force._ "Well, Liv isn't usually so out as she was last night. She's been going through some stuff. C'mon out to breakfast and I'll tell you all about it." She said as she left.

Jane dug through her suitcase for a change of clothes before hitting the shower.

Kate was flipping pancakes when Jane came out of her room, freshly showered and dressed. She refilled her friend's cup as she sat down in the bar stool. As Beckett put the plate down in front of her she stopped momentarily. Jane looked up to see Kate looking across the hangar. Jane turned to look.

Stabler and O'Malley were hanging upside down on a long bar side by side, counting crunches. Both men's abs were swollen and exposed since neither wore a shirt. Kate leaned over Jane and in a breathy voice, "Don't care if they're available or not. I love watching them work out."

Jane nodded; Elliot looked good, Colin looked better. But neither one of them did as much for Jane as they seemed to do for Kate. But she had never been one to go on looks alone. She appreciated both men's bodies but like all the other times before. She needed more than that to light her furnace.

Jane seen the scars on Colin's ribs, the damage there was extensive, and as the men crunched again, she seen more on his back. So much damage, what had caused them? She wanted to ask but as she touched her own hands she knew she wouldn't.

Kate turned back to the stove and pulled the rest of breakfast off the grill. She prepped four other plates before setting them on the bar. She sat across from Jane and dug in. Jane savored the taste of the bacon and pancakes. Now if she could find a man who could do this _and_ respect her job that would light the furnace.

To distract herself from that thought she turned her attention back to Kate. "So, where's Liv?"

"Still out cold in her room." Kate laughed softly, "She hit it hard last night."

"So she's not usually so…?"

"Out? No." Kate wiped her mouth, "She's way more reserved than you've seen her. Most of the time you'd never know she wasn't completely straight. Hell, Stabler found out by accident and they'd been partners for years."

Jane tilted her head, "Did he walk in on her or something?"

She shook her head, "To keep their relationship strong Stabler and his wife usually tell each other about their crushes and have a laugh or two about it. It was never taken seriously until dumbass over there," she jerked a thumb at Elliot, "told her about his crush on Liv. She ran right over there and slapped Liv across the face. Kathy demanded to know if Liv loved her husband. Liv said, 'No. I don't love him, I love her.' as the Assistant District Attorney for New York, Alexandra Cabot came out of the bedroom wearing nothing but one of Liv's button up shirts." "Oh shit!" Jane chuckled, "I imagine Kathy was embarrassed."

"Oh she felt like shit. They can say anything they want but Liv and Alex coming out to them that day probably saved the Stabler's marriage. Alex is gay and Liv is bi, but favors women."

"Wow. But that doesn't explain Liv last night."

"Alex has some pretty high career ambitions, I guess she got a job offer she couldn't pass up but I don't know for sure. Liv hasn't really opened up about it. But whatever it is, Liv is still head over heels in love with her and she's not taking the split very well."

"So she's throwing herself at any woman?"

"No. That was just you." She smiled. "You are an exact negative of Alex Cabot. Black hair instead of blonde, brown eyes instead of blue, she's white collar, your blue collar. But you both have similar bodies and close heights."

"Wow. Don't know if that's good or bad." Jane said, polishing off her breakfast, "Does that mean I need to be careful around her."

"Oh god no." Kate laughed, "She's going to be a hell of a lot more embarrassed than you are when she gets up."

* * *

><p><strong>Building 283 - Room 2<strong>

It began as a slight pressure. As if a weight was pushing down on her lower abdomen but as it built, she began to realize that this was not part of her dream. It was unbearable and when combined with her twisted stomach, her body rousted her from her alcohol induced slumber. It was then she realized that the sound of the troll from her dreams who had unmercifully beaten that massive drum directly behind her was still ringing in her ears. As was the weight on her body.

As she made her way into her bathroom, the troll's drum settled into her own heartbeat. The abdominal weight was released as she relieved herself. Much like Jane had earlier, Olivia sat on the bowl trying to remember last night, but the more she recalled, the more she dreaded leaving this room.

_Oh my god, Jane! _Olivia lurched from the toilet and grabbed the garbage can before emptying what was left in her stomach into it. As her stomach heaved, images of her behavior toward the newest member of their crew tore through her head, _I'm so sorry. Jane! I can't believe I came at you like some drunken slut._ Her stomach settled. Olivia tried to bring some composure to herself as she righted her underwear and slid the garbage can back into its place. Flushing the toilet she lowered the lid and sat down. Head in her hands, she tried to come to terms with herself.

There was a gentle knock at the bathroom door a few minutes later.

"Go away, Kate." She barked too loudly, sending a wave of pain through her skull.

The door cracked open and a slender scarred hand reached in to set coffee on the counter, "You sound worse than I did this morning? Are you okay?" The voice was husky and nervous as the hand retreated.

Liv's stomach dropped, _Why did it have to be you. Aren't I embarrassed enough?_ "I'm fine." But her voice caught, betraying her.

Jane slipped inside the bathroom at the hurt sound. She immediately took in the surrounding room and the evidence that showed Liv was anything but fine. She held her hand out, "C'mon. Let's get you cleaned up."

Liv shot a defensive glare at her, "I don't need to be taken care of!"

Jane watched the emotions tare across her face too fast to follow but eventually settled on pain and hurt.

_"__Well let me clear some things up for you. So you know where I stand."_ She slid the coffee over to Olivia and set down two aspirins. She then began wrapping up the garbage bag and turned on the shower. She pulled two towels from the rack and set them on the counter, all while she spoke in Italian, _"__I know that I don't really know you but what little I do know is that you weren't yourself last night and I'm not offended in the slightest. I thought you were flattering and if I played on your team, you wouldn't have woken up alone. I don't know anything about Alex and, I'm really sorry if this pisses you off but I have to say this. I think she should be arrested for felonious stupidity for leaving someone like you in whatever manner caused you to hurt like this"_

Olivia should have been angry, Jane just insulted the only person she ever truly trusted with her heart but she couldn't because Jane's words were comforting. That Jane understood her pain and wasn't just smoothing over last night's words or actions, but was trying to comfort a woman whom she didn't even know. That thought puzzled her.

She welcomed the brief distraction as she tried to put Jane together in her mind. Jane had already said she isn't into women, but she's here, trying to help someone through a difficult time and poor behavior. That certainly doesn't fit with a Homicide Detective; she wouldn't have lasted long being that empathetic. So why was Jane in her bathroom trying to take care of her?

So she asked, _"__Why are you here?"_

Jane checked the water temperature before pulling Liv's shower bag out of the drawer and set it on the counter, _"__My Lieutenant sent me here."_

_"__No."_ she stood, _"__Why are you here, in this bathroom, helping a complete stranger deal with a hangover and a broken heart?"_

She thought about her answer. She debated as to whether or not to tell her about _him_. _What the hell? _She would only be here a few days but she would keep the details to herself. And then Jane did something she never did before, she cracked open her armor, "_Because something happened to me a few years ago that almost killed me, and someone helped me even when I didn't want her to, even when I didn't deserve it." _

Olivia's eyes fell to Jane's hands, "She must have been a good friend."

Jane raised her scarred hands up, partly to look at them and part to emphasize her next words, "She barely even knew me then."

She turned and walked out, leaving that thought spinning around in Liv's head.

* * *

><p>Colin sat at the bar checking his equipment after finishing the breakfast Kate had cooked all of them. As he wiped his hands he eyed Kate warily, "Where's our new friend?"<p>

Kate yanked the plate from in front of him, "She headed into Liv's room when she heard her puking, took coffee and aspirin with her."

Colin nodded his head, "Well Liv did put some heavy moves on her last night."

"She's straight, Colin." She dumped it in the dirty dish water and sat back down, "and since I was the most sober, or rather the least drunk last night, I seen how uncomfortable Jane was. But she still went in there this morning."

"Really," Colin arched a brow, "She's brave, considering how fun Liv is with a hangover."

They sat considering that for a moment, "Tell me what your impressions are?"

Kate stared at Liv's room "I hate that she's from Boston, but aside from her poor city of origin, I like her." Kate said into her coffee cup, "I got over that about you so I can probably do it for her."

He snorted loudly before rising, "Oh how I love for my friends to insult my home town," He walked around the bar and set up the coffee pot to make more before he emptied the carafe into his cup, "I guess what I really need to know is if I need to set her up in one of the barracks or let her stay here."

Elliot, who had just come back from a shower, strode over and took a stool. "Hey honey, what's for breakfast?"

Kate rolled her eyes to Colin before yanking one of the plates of food off the counter and rudely dropping it in front of him with a loud clank. "I'm not your wife, Stabler. Don't call me honey."

He watched her cautiously trying to gage her mood. She smirked at him and he relaxed. "No coffee? Awe c'mon sweetie."

She pulled the fresh carafe, "You want to wear this?" she said before setting it in front of him. She turned back to Colin, "No. I think she's okay."

El poured his coffee, "What's up?"

"Just discussing our house guest," Colin said. "What's your opinion?"

Elliot dove in to his pancakes, "She seems alright, great sense of humor and good backup in a fight." He glanced at Kate as he swallowed, "Had Kate's back in a flash when that guy got all touchy feely."

"My understanding is she started that fight."

Kate stood silent letting Elliot answer for her, "If she didn't throw that punch, I would have. So would Liv."

Kate scoffed, "She beat me to it. I turned to but she was already on him."

"So should she stay in house?" Colin said while looking right at his friends.

He stopped chewing, clearly thinking about it, "even though it might be uncomfortable for Liv, I'm okay with her staying." He pointed his fork at Colin, "But I'll defer to my partner when she puts in her vote." He returned to his plate.

"Speaking of your partner," Kate said as she checked her watch, "Jane's been in there for about fifteen minutes. You want to go do a wellness check?"

"In where?" he said, frozen, "Liv's room!?"

They nodded in unison.

Elliot shook his head, vehemently, "Are you crazy? I'm not going in there! After what happened last year we all agreed it's best to wait for her to come out."

"Some partner." Colin chuckled to Kate.

Kate threw her hands up, "Fine. I'll go. She had my back last night so I guess I'll return the favor."

She had just turned to go when abruptly the door in question swung open and Jane stepped out with a confident swagger that had the three passing looks at each other. More astounding was Olivia directly behind her dressed in her black police cargo pants flaring out of the top of her tactical boots. Her blue t-shirt had the letters NYPD emblazoned on the back with the department's shield logo over her left breast. Like Elliot, Liv was clearly dressed for the combat games.

Colin stared at Kate and mouthed _What the hell?_

Her eyes relayed her disbelief.

Liv nodded at Colin, knowing what was being discussed this morning. She walked around the bar and picked up the last plate of food, "Jane, have you eaten this morning?"

Jane sat down at the end of the bar, coffee cup in hand, "Yeah. Kate cooked."

Elliot snapped back into reality. With the final vote on Jane's place in the group cast, he figured he might as well start orienting her. "It's kind of our thing here. Who gets up first, cooks and who's up last, cleans."

"Is that just for breakfast or all the meals?"

"Mostly breakfast." Kate said, "It's the one meal we're mostly here for. Lunch is almost always at the range pavilion and dinner depends on if we grille out together or head to the Shield."

"As far as staples go," Liv continued, "we keep the place pretty well stocked but you'll have to tell Mitch that you're here with us so he can keep you in your favorite beer."

"We do have a few rules here though," Colin said, "First is that we have a strict no visitor rule, so no bringing anyone home. We had some trouble here once and no one is eager to repeat it."

There were muted groans around the bar as each remembered that incident.

"Second," Stabler said, "Keep it low key, It's a relaxed, fun environment that doesn't take well to drama so keep it cool here and remember that no one is trying to hurt anyone here. That's part of the reason we don't take guests."

Jane held her hand up to stop them, "So with the no guest rule, why am I here?"

"You had my back last night," Kate said, "Colin saw that and this is his place."

Colin nodded, "That, how much you had to drink, and your housing situation all played into allowing you to stay the night. As for the rest of your stay, you were voted in this morning."

"Which just doesn't happen," Liv said, "But you impressed them last night and me this morning."

"I was the only one who got voted in on the same year." Kate said, "You just got voted in on opening day." She gave a pained look, "Even though you're from Boston."

Jane smirked again, "Another victory for team Boston."

Colin looked at his watch, "Kate, can you show her around and get her up to speed on our way of life? I got to head up to reception for the goddamn speeches."

She nodded as Colin got up. Jane watched him as he separated the gear on the counter. He was dressed like Liv and El, in black cargos and boots, but where her shirt was blue, his was black. The only adornments were on his sleeves. The right side held an old style round bomb with a stylized flame coming out of the top. The left had the Springfield Arms logo with Ft Justice ATC emblazoned underneath. Both sides were in a bright yellow.

Colin slipped on his Tactical vest and plugged a cord into a two way radio before slipping it into a pocked on the front. He then pulled an earpiece out of a pocket near the shoulder and slipped it on. He then fastened the vest and checked it's fit. Next he attached a large plastic holster behind his back and a smaller version on his right hip. He clipped a badge of some kind onto his hip before reaching for his weapons.

Jane noticed the badge was the Springfield Arms Logo with the words Provost Marshall stamped into the metal. He then picked up a Glock 19 and checked it before sliding it neatly into the plastic holster on his side. He picked up a larger Glock and slid the magazine out to check it.

"Whoa," Jane said, eyeing the weapon, "That's some serious hardware."

He smiled, "Be my guest." He kept the mag but handed her the pistol.

She eyed it carefully before taking it in hand, "It shoots 45s right."

He nodded.

"Lighter than I expected." She said as she pointed it at a wall in a palm under fist grip. "Tell me about it."

"It's a Glock 37, Ten 45 caliber GAP rounds, 29 ounce empty versus the Glock 19 with its 9 millimeter rounds and, 23 oz weight."

"Does it have a lot of kickback?"

"Actually it's less than the 1911, despite the hotter round."

She handed it back. He slid the magazine into it and slid it into the back holster. He picked up his phone and slid it in a chest pocket before turning to his friends. "Opening speeches suck but if you're interested, mine is at oh nine hundred. I put together some new games this year so you should probably come." He waved as he turned toward his Harley.

Jane grimaced at the looks she got riding on the backseat of Kate's Softtail. _Will the indignities ever cease? Ride bitch on a chick's bike._ The 4 seater ATV Colin offered hadn't been brought to her yet and Elliot and Olivia had already taken off to register for the shooting contests leaving Jane on Kate's bike.

She leaned over Kate's shoulder, "I look like your girlfriend."

Kate laughed, hard before tossing back, "Don't worry baby. I promise I'll make you look good."

Jane snorted, "Right."

* * *

><p>They rode slowly through the field of hangars that housed the various venders pedaling their various weapons and equipment. Jane watched as they passed the large amphitheater where the opening ceremonies and various bands were scheduled to appear this week. She frowned as Kate turned away from the parking lot and headed toward a pavilion. They rode passed groups of officers and pulled up to the pavilion. Kate shut off the bike and leaned it on the kickstand. She slapped Jane's thigh, signaling to get off.<p>

Jane watched as some nameless business suit droned on about appreciation to sponsors and grateful for support or some such. Kate led her into the pavilion where they found Elliot and Liv. Jane felt out of place as she realized they all dressed alike, NYPD shirts, black cargo pants and boots, but she sat with them anyway.

Elliot passed her another coffee, "Just in time. Colin is up next."

She nodded as she took the coffee, "No beer?"

"Naw," He said, "Beer will get you DQ'ed from the games."

Liv smiled at Jane warmly, "We're shooting today."

Kate leaned in, "Heard they cancelled the partnership game."

"Ha!" Liv said, "You'll see." She watched the stage, "Here he comes."

The average balding man in the suit changed his tone, "So again I'd like to thank all of our suppliers and venders for making this the largest turnout for Law Enforcement in America. A special thank you goes out to the Glock Corporation for co-hosting and providing our special ammunition for the CQC's events. And let's us never forget the true purpose we get together each year. To honor our soldiers of the thin blue line. Every day we wish that your services were not needed, for our soldiers do not face the dangers you stand in front of everyday. Soldiers are sent to the fight and enjoy a relative safety here at home. Where every day you stand between us and our darkest side, not on some foreign soil most of us will never see. Here at home. On the streets of New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Miami, Dallas, Denver, Detroit," he hesitated, "Boston. In our most urban areas to the loneliest road, you always stand ready. For that, no thank you could ever be enough to convey our gratitude. You stand strong and Springfield stands with you, always."

He took a step back and there was applause after a minute he raised his hands to shush the crowd, "So I guess, we've had some changes to the lineup for the games this year, I'll turn this party over to our Director of Competitions, Provost Marshall Sergeant First Class, Colin O'Malley."

Colin stepped up onto the stage, and took the microphone, there was a loud squeal as he yanked his earpiece out and shut off his radio, He then tapped the microphone, "Who needs coffee when that could wake you up?" He shook the man's hand, "Thank you Mr. Huff."

As he walked off the stage Colin called out, "Springfield CEO Gilbert Huff, Ladies and Gentlemen." More applause, "So as Mr. Huff said, We at the Springfield Combat Simulations Center have been burning the midnight oil all year long to come up with more for you to do, since the games are so popular. After so many requests for the last two years from state troopers and highway patrols, we at the CSC have done it for you," Colin pointed to a man in the crowd, "Iowa Trooper Riley. We hired a group of the best stuntman in the country to help and we have reinforced nearly a dozen Crown Victorias and perfected the techniques. The PIT's is open on the old airstrip. Now you highway guys can actually perform the PIT on actual cars instead of those computer simulators. And before you ask, no one can ride in the suspect vehicle." He eyed another cop, "Get over it Jenkins." The crowd laughed.

"Another change is the expansion of our stunt driving course. We've added nearly a mile of track to Skid Row and added a few fun items to make your cruise more interesting. Don't worry, Lieutenant Davis, the cars have crash harnesses and are reinforced." He turned to look at the pavilion,

"Benson and Stabler, Put the beers down and listen up 'cause this one is for you. We have taken the partnership game, Cover Me, and have broken it down into three separate events. First is called Take 'em Down. Many aspects of arrest of a resisting suspect are reflected here including vehicles, dynamic entry and runners." He paused, "Don't worry Beckett, I still have that one in a singles game. I hope you brought your Nikes because I got some great runners this year." She laughed as he continued.

"Take 'em Out, is similar however in this one odds are the suspect won't give up, it includes hostages, dead man switches, and general all around hard to beat scenarios. Truly we expect simulated casualties for this one.

"Then we have the CQB, it's called Cover Me, but it's basically urban combat. Our hangar has been assembled so that everything inside can be moved remotely. Completely automated with reactive target drones that shoot back with paint rounds. Nothing beyond the front door will be in the same place from round to round. We spent hours designing the simulator's fifteen different scenarios. Your task will be to clear the building of hostile targets and they will shoot first. This is the most advanced Close Quarters Combat simulator in the world. Good luck, you're going to need it."

Jane looked over to Kate whose attention was wrapped around Colin's every word about the CQB. "You okay?"

"I want to try it." Kate said enthusiastically. "I want to go."

"I'm sure Colin could set you up tonight." Liv said, "He's always had a hard time saying no to you."

Colin spoke up, eyeing them annoyingly at being interrupted, "Hey kids, something you'd like to share with the group?"

"Beckett wants to know if the CQB is available for single matches?" shouted Stabler.

Colin smiled, "Not this year, its teams only."

Kate smiled warmly to him and winked. He continued on talking about the new hand to hand restraint class as Kate eyed up Jane with a purpose.


	4. Chapter 4

_**In answer to a guest question, I try to post often, not neccessarily one a day. Often i'm places where inernet isnt available but i write all week. SO even if you dont see posts everyday. I'm still going. I don't usually write on weekends but i do write all week and often i'll post on weekends. So keep checking back. Z good eye, i missed that build 15 times at least.**_

_**Last post this weekend, enjoy.**_

* * *

><p><strong>BPD Division One - Homicide<strong>

Barry Frost sat at his computer as Detective Vince Korsak, Ray Marquette and Dr. Isles stood over his shoulder. His dark hands flew over the keyboard as he brought up the Springfield Arms LETO 8 website. Within a few minutes he had a video feed of Ft. Justice. A tall muscular soldier in combat fatigues identified as Lieutenant Colonel Sanchez stood on stage going over the morning results of a combat game. He spoke with a jovial southern accent.

_"__The statistics in the CQB put the NYPD SVU team ahead in points with Miami Dade, and LAPD Division 1 brings in 2__nd__and 3__rd__respectively but as stated, fourteen teams still have to run through the kill house." _A man in black tactical clothes marched up to him as he covered the mic and leaned in. He then nodded and uncovered the mic. _"__Sergeant O'Malley has just informed me that we have a correction to make, there are now fifteen teams remaining, a last minute addition fills up this year's docked for partnership games."_

He nodded to his right, _"__Mr. Huff and Sergeant O'Malley, will you please join me in introduce team number 30?"_

The man in black stood near the back of the stage and a middle aged balding man joined him, passing the Colonel a card. Sanchez looked over it before turning to the sergeant. He received a nod and turned back to the camera, _"__For the first time in the history of the games we have an inter department task force. Please welcome, from the New York Police Department's Precinct 12, Homicide Detective Kate Beckett."_

They all stared at the beautiful tall woman wearing NYPD Kevlar vest and black combat gear, she strode confidently over to a mark on the stage in front of a camera.

_"__Her partner for the games, from the Boston Police Department's Division 1, Homicide Detective Jane Rizzoli."_

Frost's jaw dropped as there was a collective gasp when his partner came onstage with her trademark swagger, her vest bore the distinctive Boston Police lettering and she struck up a pose, back to back with the NYPD Detective. There was the flash of the camera before they joined the men.

_"__So tell us, detectives. What prompted you to team up, despite the rivalry between your two cities and two departments?"_ he held up the mic to Kate.

Kate Beckett laughed, _"__We both wanted to try out the CQB but neither of us came with partners, so it just made sense."_

_"__Detective," _He held the mike out to Jane, _"__The CQB is a challenge dependent on trust in your partner. As last year's partnership champions from NYPD SVU have learned today, even complete trust in your partner can't always get you through. How long have you known each other?"_

Jane shrugged, _"__We just met, yesterday."_

The Colonel's eyes went wide, _"__Yesterday?"_

Kate answered, _"__Doesn't matter. I trust her to cover me just like I'll cover her."_

He shook his head, _"__Okay. Well there you have it."_ He waved them off stage before turning back to his companions.

_"__Mr. Huff. What do you think?"_

He smiled warmly, _"__An untested partnership, first all-female team we've ever had, combined with the carnage the CQB has wrought today. I applaud their heroism and efforts but I'll hold my opinion until we see if they make it through the first round."_

The soldier laughed, _"__Well you are right about the untested partners. But I wonder how far that blind trust can go."_

He then passed the mic to the man in black, _"__SFC O'Malley, any thoughts?"_

He spoke with a light Irish accent, _"__I say don't count them out. I've known Beckett for years and there's no one I'd want at my back more. And as far as Rizzoli goes, well, we Bostonians stick together. I'm gonna take her on faith."_

_"__So you believe they'll make round 3 or dare I say round 4? Perhaps even the final round?"_

He laughed, _"__I think they'll be a force to be reckoned with in all three games."_

Marquette put a beefy hand on Frost's shoulder, "Start monitoring this in the BRIC and keep me informed."

He turned and walked away.

Korsak leaned over Frost, "Find some footage on this CQB thing." He said sharply.

Frost eyed the man, "Yes, sir." He said sarcastically. He poked around the website for a few minutes until he found what he was looking for, kind of.

"Says here, to protect the integrity of the CQB, no video will be made available until after the round is over. Estimated release for round 1 is 1800 Central Daylight Time."

"Seven PM here." He smacked the younger cop's shoulder, harder than he meant to, "Keep me posted."

* * *

><p><strong>CQB Round 1: (New York-Boston) NYB Taskforce Team<strong>

Kate's adrenalin was pumping and she could hear Jane's breathing was rapid, slightly beside and behind her. As she swept her weapon to the left Jane mirrored her, sweeping right.

Without a word Kate stepped left toward the wall, Jane slipped quietly to the right. Their positions were now reversed at the end of the hall. Effortlessly they worked together, as if they always had. Kate covered the right side of the room from the left as Jane eased in from the right. The room was clouded from a dry ice machine, while several of the fluorescent lights flickered, making visibility problematic at best. As Jane quietly made cover against a crate, a vaguely human shaped machine rose up from a catwalk and sprayed the crate with paint rounds. Kate put two paint shots in its face from the hallway. She gently eased down to join Jane when another drone lurched up from a crate ten feet away.

Kate new it had her but before it could get off a shot. Jane's pistol popped and the machine got a face of green. It fell back into the crate. Kate bolted to another crate just ahead of Jane. It was then that all hell broke loose. Paint flew from all directions, Jane and Kate ducked before they were hit and then she heard Jane say "fuck it".

Jane popped up and started shooting. Kate followed suit. Her task was simple, find and shoot. Within a few minutes the room was clear and all either had to show for it was some splash damage from the paint but neither had taken a direct hit. Jane slid down and reloaded as did Kate.

Jane caught her eye, "No buzzer. We're missing something."

Kate nodded and eyed the room, "I don't see it."

"Guess we can draw it out." She sighed, "You want to do it or should I?"

Kate shook her head, "You hug left, and I'll take right."

"We split up and it could take us both." Jane said flatly.

"Then what gets us out together?"

Jane rested her head briefly on the slide on her pistol. "I'll go. You cover, just like the book says."

Kate closed her eyes, "Ok. I'll cover."

They looked at each other. Kate turned behind the crate and readied herself. Jane closed her eyes and muttered something before she grabbed the edge of her crate and leapt over it. She hit the ground running as fast as she ever had, heading directly to the back of the warehouse. Kate had leapt over and followed Jane while running in a shooting position. The door from the sea container that sat perpendicular to the room swung partly open, revealing the last drone. Kate had no clear shot because the door swung towards her and her partner was about to get hit.

Kate screamed at the top of her lungs, "DOWN!"

Jane didn't question and she didn't leap. She simply stopped her foot from taking the next step. The lack of forward support carried by her momentum caused her body to descend rapidly. She put her hands out to catch her as paint flew over her head, paint that would clearly have hit her had she continued to run or even attempt to jump to safety. She hit the ground hard but kept her left hand extended so that she rolled with the impact. The action caused her shooting glasses to fly off into darkness.

She saw the drone in the sea container, lowering its paint gun towards her while still shooting the red gel rounds. She knew she wouldn't get her shot of before she was hit but she swung anyway. It was at that instant she seen Kate leap through the fog behind the door. She watched in astonishment as Kate rolled in midair so she was facing backwards while soaring toward her position. There was nothing she could do to take out the shooter but there was one thing she could do. She opened her arms and stopped her roll.

Vaguely aware that she was going to land hard on her back, Kate kept her pistol ready. As she flew passed the sea container door, she leveled her pistol and emptied her magazine into the machine. The red eyes of the machine went black and it stopped firing. Although she came down hard, her fall was cushioned by a soft body that slammed arms around her, stopping her momentum. She became aware of the slender hand with the Glock 19 that released her to take aim at the machine before scanning the room, her partner's other arm tight around her body. She raised her Glock to scan the area despite the empty magazine.

The buzzer sounded and the lights came up. Kate leaned back into her partner and took a deep breath. "Jesus."

Jane sighed painfully, "Yeah." Her pistol arm draped over her partner's armored abdomen.

Colin burst in through the back door and followed by a team of paramedics ran to them, "Are you two ok?"

They glanced at each other. Kate still in Jane's arms said simply "Yeah, we had it covered."

He held his hand out and helped Kate up before doing the same for Jane. "Christ, I've never seen anything like it." He said loudly, his brogue thick, revealing his concern, "It's only a simulation but you two put it out there like its real." He glared at Kate, "Flying through the air like a goddamned action hero is a touch much for a game, isn't it?"

Kate patted the dirt and grime off herself as she glared at Colin, "I treat every situation like it could end my life or the life of my partner. You see targets, I see assailants." There wasn't much anger in her voice, merely coming down from the adrenalin, "How about you Jane?"

Jane rubbed the back of her palm against her jaw, pistol still in hand. "My life for my partner's with no regrets. Had this been for real, I'd have acted the exact same way."

Colin ran a hand through his dark hair, "But it's not real, it's a game! You could have been seriously injured in that stunt, Kate. You too with that fall, Jane. I've been shot in the face with one of these things. You don't want that without glasses."

The Paramedics moved in to check out the women. Within a minute they were reported okay and escorted out, Colin still pacing furiously on the deck. He was joined a minute later by Corporal Henry Griggs, the man who operated the CQB and collected the statistical data.

"Sarge, I think you should see this." He said as he held up a clip board.

Colin snatched it up and glared at it. "You're kidding."

Griggs shook his head, "They did it. 98% accuracy, 34 head shots, all targets cleanly hit." He waved at the sea container shooter, "Bruno here was the only one who took body shots. Everyone else was cleanly hit in the head."

"Time?"

"14:32:08." Griggs said, "Not the fastest but definitely not slow. Their accuracy is uncanny, match that with their team movements and we've got contenders. Their only verbal communication was before engaging Bruno."

Colin looked back to the clip board, "Damn, and I just yelled at them."

"Permission to speak freely?" Colin nodded and Griggs took a breath before speaking, "They're your friends, sergeant. I look out for my battle buddies too."

He sighed, "Guess I better go apologize before we post the results."

* * *

><p><strong>Beacon Hill home of Dr. Isles.<strong>

**Boston**

Maura Isles sat on her luxurious couch in her beautiful home in Beacon Hill. Her hand covered her mouth as she watched the video feed Frost had forwarded to her. On the screen was Jane Rizzoli flat on her back in what looked like an industrial warehouse, her arms flared wide as another woman flew at her upside down and backwards while firing at what looked like a cross between Number 5 and the Terminator.

Jane caught the woman in her arms and both were pushed back about three feet by the impact. Before they even stopped moving, Jane had her weapon up to defend the woman. An instant later, the New York cop had hers up too. She had watched the entire fifteen minute video, her eyes glued to the ebony haired woman as she and her partner navigated the scene. Several close ups showed the concern on her face for her teammate and also her determination to win.

_That's my Jane,_ she thought. The woman she was fast becoming friends with, the only one who really fit into that category. Maura knew she was socially awkward, she knew that preferring the company of the dead had been responsible for a lack of people that she could socially be involved with. The "Queen of the Dead", that's what they called her. For the most part she was okay with it, until she met Jane Rizzoli who on her first day at homicide invited her to lunch during an autopsy.

Jane Rizzoli.

The woman Maura had mistaken as a hooker when the detective worked at the Drug Control Unit or DCU. Offering her money for lunch and suggesting dietary advice based on what was actually nonexistent sexual activity.

Jane.

Who had punched out Detective Darren Crowe for calling her the Queen of the Dead on a murder scene, resulting in a three day suspension.

Jane.

Who now defended another cop that she barely knew with everything she had, just as the other cop had. She watched the last few minutes again. She watched her fall, then roll to take aim. She watched as her friend spread her arms as her partner flew at her, not to protect herself, but to protect her partner. _She's so protective, even in a simulation._ She watched the other woman land on Jane, who wrapped her arms around her to keep her partner safe.

_That's my friend Jane._ The truth of those words flooded her with warmth and filled her with pride.

"That's my friend Jane." She said out loud, the words echoing around the living room. For the first time in a long time, the lack of anyone in her home didn't seem to bother her as much. She watched the video again, this time with pride. She couldn't help it.

Finally she decided to call Jane. She wasn't sure if she was supposed to or if it was proper, given their new friendship, but honestly she couldn't keep her hand away from the phone. She flipped through her contacts until she found her friend.

Back at Colin's hangar, the grille was dying, the fire pit was roaring, and the beer was flowing. Jane sat between Kate and Olivia as Elliot and Colin finished cleaning up from the barbecue. Five glorious porterhouse steaks had been sizzling while corn on the cob sat wrapped in foil, next to mashed potatoes and gravy, all before being devoured by the hungry group.

Now, everyone was full and relaxing next to the fire. Elliot and Colin laughed at the three women seated in the lawn swing.

"Still say that's the best investment I've ever made." Colin said.

"Ladies love swings," he agreed.

Kate raised her middle finger at him without breaking the conversation with the girls.

He laughed good-naturedly.

Liv smiled at Colin, "Got to hand it to your team Colin. That CQB was crazy, especially that one that came out of the sea container. That thing was evil."

"You're talking about Bruno." He said with a laugh, "Yeah, he took most of you out today."

Eliot picked up his vest, a bright red smear right in the center of the back. "Accurate bugger too." He said before he draped it over a chair.

Colin laughed, "All part of our commitment to bringing you the unknown."

"Any more surprises you have planned," Jane asked.

Colin eyed her, "Since you're new I'll give you the lowdown on the games. I'll never, ever tell you anything about what you'll face. I'll talk about what is past, never the future. That's the rules. It prevents you from having advanced knowledge and protects the integrity of the games. That one commitment is what allows you to stay here with me. It's also the reason why I am completely honest with everyone here. Because, if my word comes into question all of you would be stuck in the barracks." He sipped at his beer, "Clear?"

Jane nodded, "As glass."

Suddenly, the funeral dirge played from the pocket of her vest, "Oh shit!"

Jane lurched of the swing and dashed to where she had dropped her equipment. The resulting rocking action almost spilled Kate's beer, who started to shout an obscenity about her partner's courtesy when Liv put a hand on her shoulder.

"Fuck, where is it?" She said as she shuffled through her things.

Kate glanced at Liv who was watching with a fixed fascination. Finally on the third ring she found it and she hit the button.

"Hey, Maura." She said, as she turned away from the group.

_"__Hello, Jane."_ The ME said. _"__Are you having fun in Springfield?"_

"Oh, hell yeah!" She said, "They got all kinds of cool things to do here."

_"__Have."_ Maura corrected, _"__They _have_all kinds of cool things to do here."_

Jane's smile creeped in, Maura was still being Maura, "Okay, they have cool things here. Anything going on back at home?"

_"__Not really, you're actually the latest topic of conversation."_

Jane froze, "How's that?"

_"__Well, Lieutenant Marquette asked Detective Frost to access the LETO website to check on you. He was quite surprised to find out that you had teamed up with a New York Detective for the close quarter combat simulator."_

"We call it the CQB." Jane sighed, "How did the squad take it?"

_"__At first there were some questionable remarks, particularly since Boston defeated New York in a recent baseball game. However, since the videos for your contest were released, Detective Frost is concerned that your partner may want a transfer to Boston, although I am fairly certain it was said in jest."_

Jane laughed, "Tell Frost not to worry, she's never leaving the Big Apple."

Maura laughed, the sound was sweet as song birds to Jane's ears, _"__Well I am certain he will be saturated with serotonin and oxytocin when he hears."_

"You mean he'll be relieved? Can't you just say that?"

_"__I did and judging by your response, you understood."_

"Not really, I just figured relieved would work best in that sentence."

_"__Another conclusion from your intestines?"_

Jane laughed something that drew a bright smile from Maura, "I guess you could say that."

There was a pause before Maura continued, _"__I've seen the video of your fall. Did you injure your carpus when you fell on your arm?"_

Jane rounded her wrist, "Nope. Did it just right."

_"__Well the way you caught your partner you should probably sleep on your left side so you're right acetabulofemerol joint has some relief tonight."_

"My what?" Jane glared at t no one in confusion.

_"__Your hip, she landed on your right leg in a manner that pulled your hip sharply. It must be hurting by now."_

Jane winced at the minor ache Maura described, "God, you are so creepy sometimes. How did you know that?"

_"__I watched the video, Jane." _She said sheepishly,_ "__You should also tell your partner that she should ice her right iliocostalis lumborum for a while then switch to a heat pack, then sleep on her stomach or she may have some pain in the morning that may distract her."_

"Her right huh? You mean back pain?" Jane looked over and realized she was being watched, "Hey Kate?"

_"__What?"_ the other woman said from behind a beer bottle.

"My ME said use some icy hot on your back before bed and sleep on your stomach."

Kate looked at her blankly, "How does she know that?"

"She saw the video."

"Oh shit! Were on YouTube already?" She shouted and laughed, "Hope we go viral." She said while giving Liv a fist bump.

Jane laughed and turned to walk away, "So now that were all thoroughly embarrassed. What did you think, pretty cool stuff going on here, huh?"

_"__I thought it was very heroic how you put yourself out as a target and especially the way you caught your teammate."_

Jane rolled her eyes, "Her name is Kate. Kate Beckett."

_"__Well Kate seems very athletic, and like you is willing to put her body in danger for her partner._"

"Yeah," Jane said, "We just kind of clicked since we met and she's got two other friends from NYPD so we've all been hanging out. Olivia and Elliot are partners at SVU."

**Maura's Home**

Maura scanned through the list of contestants, she seen SVU somewhere. She found it at the top. "Oh, Detective's Benson and Stabler, I've seen their videos too. Looks like you'll have a lot of competition from them."

_"__You've been doing research while I'm out?"_

Maura laughed again, amazed how easy it was with Jane. "Yes. I was interested in finding out what CQB meant. I found it quite intense."

Jane smiled, _"__And what did your research reveal about out competition."_

"Would you like a report or a summary."

_"__Sum it up for me, Maura."_

Maura leaned back into the couch, deep in thought, "Most of the teams that have been eliminated seemed to be overwhelmed by the simulator or didn't take the CQB seriously. Of the ones who remain, LAPD Division 1 seems to be used to this kind of scenario because they functioned as a clean unit and were not easily distracted. They were the team that assaulted the sea container target."

_"__That's Bruno. Colin set him up as an ambush."_

"Colin?"

_"__Colin O'Malley. He runs things here and is in charge of the games."_

"Oh I seen him, He has wonderful bicep brachii and femoris."

_"__There called arms or biceps, Maur. And before you shoot out some more google, yes he's cute, no I'm not sleeping with him, and no one else here is. He won't sleep with anyone under his roof, ever."_

She processed the data she had just been given, "I thought you had a room in a barracks or apartment building."

_"__No, the reservation were still under Sergeant Hill's name so I got assigned to an all-male building, Colin blew a gasket because I wasn't the only one, so he invited me to join his crew while he fixed up the others. I'm in basically in a VIP building."_

"I really don't know how you can make friends so fast."

Jane heard the twinge in Maura's voice. _"__It was Kate and Olivia more than anyone. I made friends in a bar fight."_

**Jane's location.**

_"__Jane!"_ Maura's voice caught, _"__How are your hands?"_

Jane flexed one, "Their good. No more trouble than normal." She hated talking about them but it came so easily with Maura.

She heard Maura grimace on the phone, _"__I know you don't want to but you should have someone massage them for a bit. The climate change from Boston to Illinois must be making them ache enough without adding a fight into it."_

"Oh Maura," Jane whined, "C'mon, My hands are fine and your right, I hate when someone touches them."

_"__Even me?"_ Maura said with a quiver, _"__I thought you preferred I do it."_

Jane sighed, "Maura. You're the only one I feel comfortable doing that with. Everyone else can stay the hell away from my hands."

A twig snapped behind her, she jerked around to see Liv walking up with another beer. _Damn it there's no way she didn't hear that._ Jane smiled to the other woman as she took the beer. Liv glanced at the scar and then met Jane's eyes.

The invitation was clear, _I'll do it for you and I won't judge you._ She broke the gaze and headed back, quietly.

Jane stared at Liv at the offer. She had already trusted her with the truth about Maura. Granted, she didn't know anything specific, until now, but Jane hated the feeling of someone else touching the very parts of her she hated the most, the idea that she was weak, that she had made a mistake going into that basement alone. Before she knew it, she remembered Korsak above her.

_"__Oh my God. Jane!" He leaned over her._

_Her screaming, "Out! Out!"_

_"__We'll get you some paramedics," He said._

_Her meeting his eyes as tears filled hers, "PULL THEM OUT!"_

_"__Jane? Jane! JANE!"_ Maura's voice snapped her out of those memories.

"Sorry," she said, her voice shaky, "Liv just brought me a beer."

_"__No. It was more than that."_ Maura said, _"__I know, Jane. You try to hide it but I know and I'm here for you."_

Jane took a deep breath, "I know, Maura, but I can't, I just can't."

_"__I'm sorry, Jane. I… I." _she sighed, _"__I just don't want you to be in pain."_

She sat down on a stump, "I know, Maura and I appreciate it. I'm just not, I can't…"

Maura answered the silence with a soft, _"__I know Jane. I'm sorry."_

"Don't apologize, Maura. You're trying to help."

They sat for a while, together on the phone but separated by a thousand miles. Even out here, she could feel Maura nearby. It didn't make sense and she wasn't willing to face it, but it was there none the less. Always buried, but always present. A contradiction Jane couldn't identify and dared not unravel. So she did what she had been doing since the first day she had met Maura Isles. She hid in plain sight.

* * *

><p>Olivia smiled as Colin walked her to her door, "I'm sure Alex will be back soon, love. She maybe ambitious but she knows what you to have. She'll be back soon."<p>

Liv smiled, it was a false one and they both knew it, "Yeah, and how long until she's gone again? We've been on and off for eight years. Each time gets harder than the last. I don't know anymore."

Colin pulled her close, "Then maybe it's time to move on. Find someone new."

"Like Jane?" Liv laughed as she returned his embrace, "She's dealing with her own issues."

"She doesn't have any issues, Liv."

"She does too. First is that she's in Boston, next is that she's lived through something awful and lastly." She hesitated, "she hasn't had her awakening yet."

"She doesn't know?" He stared in disbelief.

"No." Liv said, "She doesn't know and I'm not in any condition, Colin."

He nodded in understanding, "I'll keep this between us, as always." He held open her door and allowed her to enter, "Can I get you anything?"

"When you see Jane, could you ask her to check on me?" she asked.

He arched an eyebrow, "Are you sure that's wise?"

She passed him a reassuring look, "It's not for me. It's for her and it's private."

"Okay, Liv, you know I trust you." Colin hugged her tightly again and kissed her forehead. "Good night, love."

She held him a second longer before releasing him, "Good night Colin."

* * *

><p>Liv had already showered and changed into her sweat pants and NYPD athletics t-shirt by the time Jane had knocked on her door. She sat on the small couch as she awaited Jane's entry.<p>

"Come in." she said.

Jane entered cautiously and her eyes met Liv's immediately, "Hey. Colin asked me to check up on you, you okay?"

"Come on in and shut the door please." Liv said.

Jane did so, her trepidation tripling as she did. Liv offered her hand, silently.

Jane winced.

"I'm asking no questions. I will make no judgments or speculations. My only desire is to help a friend who helped me. Will you let me?"

Jane wanted to leave, she wanted to run but Maura's words hung in her mind and her palms did hurt. She had been rubbing at them all day. Although she was certain that her friends had seen her, they had not said anything to her about it. Liv had overheard her and Maura so it was obvious she felt that she had to step up, to offer. Jane instinctively worried her hands then caught herself. She stared at Liv.

"You don't have to." She said with a shaky breath, "In fact I don't want you to."

"Okay." Liv said, lowering her offered hand.

Jane forced herself to sit next to her friend, "I'm sorry I just hate this."

Liv nodded, "I know that now. I shouldn't have offered."

Jane put her hand over Liv's, the contact sent a shiver through her, "No, like Maura, you just want to help. It's not something I just do, but…" Jane closed her eyes, not wanting the other woman to see her as she spoke, "I have a hard time saying no to her."

Liv smiled warmly, understanding embracing her mind, _Its Maura! Maura is the one who was there for her._ "Keep your eyes closed," she said quickly as she slowly rolled her hand over, taking Jane's into hers. She felt Jane stiffen.

She rested her other hand on top, "Imagine that you're back in Boston and its Maura sitting here with you."

Jane cracked an eye at her before she closed her eye and braced herself. Trust was always something she had a hard time with but she wanted to make Maura happy and she knew that her hands were something she fussed over, but she also made a commitment to help Liv anyway she could and she hoped this would. So with an image of Maura deeply rooted in her mind, she nodded subtly.

Liv's touch turned soft, almost intimate as she slowly began to work over Jane's hand. Easing her blood into all the places it had a hard time reaching, the relief was more welcomed than Jane had expected. She leaned back into the couch and a soft groan escaped. Liv took that as a good sign and continued kneading the flesh in her hands. After a few minutes, she patted the hand that no longer hurt. Jane gently replaced it with her other one.

Liv kept a tight lid on her voice and her breathing. Jane was slipping into the fantasy and it was allowing Liv to see a glimpse of the Italian when she was with her Maura. The relief on Jane's face was breathtaking. The thin line of her brow eased as did the subtle lines near her eyes. As she relaxed, Liv couldn't help but stare. Jane _was_ breathtaking in every way as she lay back on the couch. Her head and shoulders were leaned back and her compact breasts poised beneath her shirt as if on display, it was subtle and she doubted Jane even realized the seductive image she was casting.

"Maura." Jane's raspy whisper snapped them both out of the moment. Liv's eyes landed straight on the hand she had been working over. She kept her gaze away from Jane's for her comfort as well as her own.

Jane gently pulled her hand away from Liv. "Um, thanks," she said as she shook out her hand, "They feel a lot better." _Did I really say that out loud?_ Jane took a deep breath. She didn't want anyone to know how deeply she fell into that place in her mind she refused to look at although she felt certain that Olivia Benson had just seen part of that place.

"You're welcome, Jane." She said as she patted Jane's knee before getting up, "Now I'm going to bed." She said as she slipped off her pants and climbed in to bed in her t-shirt and panties. "If anyone asks, I'm going to say you just made sure I hadn't passed out on my couch again."

Jane headed to the bed and picked up the sweats from the floor. She tossed them on the couch and pulled the blanket up to Liv's chin. Deep chocolate eyes met coffee colored eyes as Jane tucked in Liv. She used a finger to tuck away a loose strand of Liv's hair.

"Thank you." Jane said softly, "For not asking."

"Any time you need it." She smiled, "I can substitute."

Jane laughed, "I'm going to bed."

Liv lifted the blanked, part joke part invitation.

Jane laughed harder before pulling the blanked back down.

"I'm going to my bed."

Liv slipped her leg out from under the blanket as if to get up. Jane slapped the muscular leg playfully before it was retracted. Liv's smile was so wide it reached her eyes. She reached out and grabbed Jane's hand before she could turn away, the move startled Jane.

Liv held fast but made no other move, "Thank you, Jane."

She looked into those deep coffee eyes, "for what?"

"You've helped me, too." She said, patting Jane's hand, "Now go before I do turn you to the dark side."

Laughter erupted from both women as Jane rose to leave, "Good night Liv." She slipped out hearing Liv's good night. On her way back to her room, she searched through her memories of Liv. That was when it dawned on her that since she had met Olivia Benson a few days ago, the woman had never smiled like _that_ before.


	5. Chapter 5

_**Sorry, that I missed my Friday upload so to make it up to you I'm going to double post today and I'll see what I can finish the rest of the weekend. Burn has been occupying my mind so I haven't had a lot of inspiration on TGS but Friday came and I have a rocking chapter ready out of it. It was an add on but wow, what an add on.**_

* * *

><p><strong>CQB Pavilion. 10:15 hours<strong>

A tall thin man with bright red hair, piercing blue eyes, an expensive suit stood, and an odd little smile stood off to one side of the pavilion. He was munching on some kind of odd fruit that Maura could probably identify but Jane couldn't figure out what it was or why he looked so familiar. She watched casually as he was joined by a stunning gorgeous woman with hair as dark as Rizzoli's and an athletic hourglass figure. Unlike him, she wore khaki slacks and a button up shirt. Both of their armor was sitting on the table next to him.

She held up a green apple and he took it with a smile. She sat down next to him and stared off into the distance, conversing quietly with him as he munched. Within a few moments he had her laughing quietly.

"Charlie, you keep up with that weird Zen talk and I'm going to shoot you with one of these paint rounds." She said loudly.

"Why not," He said with a smile, "You tazed me before so shooting me shouldn't be difficult. Besides, we are both in this moment together and in hurting me you would only be hurting yourself."

She laughed as he offered her the apple. "I still don't want to talk about it." She said as she took the fruit and munched with him.

"All I'm saying is that we should all live in the moment." He said and then he looked at her, plainly, "Twenty monks and a nun, were practicing meditation with a certain Zen master. The nun was very pretty even though her head was shaved and her dress plain. Several monks secretly fell in love with her. One of them wrote her a love letter, insisting upon a private meeting. The following day the master gave a lecture to the group, and when it was over, the nun arose. Addressing the one who had written to her, she said 'If you really love me so much, come and embrace me now.'"

"And that means?" She said with a confused look.

"If you love, Reese, love openly." He replied.

"Says the guy who drives around a Maserati with bullet holes in it," She said.

"It's just an object, it has no meaning." He said with a smile.

"You're so full of shit, Crews." She said as she laughed.

He laughed too.

"Hey." Kate said distracting Jane.

She looked at her partner and her friends who had gathered around the small wooden table.

"Wow, you were gone for a moment there." Liv said.

"Just looking around." She said as she looked back. "I don't know why he looks so familiar."

"That's the competition," Elliot said with a nod. "LAPD Division 1 Homicide."

"Reese and Crews." Liv added. "Their pretty good. I think they've been together a while but their new here."

"Crews. Why does that sound so familiar?" She said quietly.

"Tom Cruise." Kate joked. "There's a lot of crews out there."

"Especially around Hollywood." Elliot added.

Colin came up to them and said a few words and headed back to the main door.

They got up and the man slid his jacket off and put on his vest, she also strapped on and they headed towards the CQB entrance.

As they walked by he looked straight down at Jane, his blue eyes locked on hers."Remember, live in the moment." He said directly to her as he kept pace with his partner.

She stared at him as he finished off the odd fruit and tossed the core into the trash. He wiped his hands on a cloth and handed his jacket to O'Malley before drawing his weapon and taking up a position next to his partner. They stood ready and when the buzzer sounded, she pulled the door and he entered. She rounded the door, weapon at the ready and the door closed. Colin handed the jacket off to a soldier and marked the time on his clipboard.

He looked up at them and called out, "Miami Dade. Youre up next."

* * *

><p><strong>CQB Pavilion 1235 Hours<strong>

_"__Med station to Provost Marshal."_ Colin's radio crackled loudly in his ear.

He sighed grumpily before setting his burger next to his fries. As he took a swallow of his fountain drink he caught sight of Rizzoli eyeing his food, He pointed at her as he reached for his radio, "Don't even think about it." He warned.

Kate, Liv and Elliot laughed as he keyed up the mike, "Go for O'Malley."

It took a second for a response, _"Specialist Hill here. I need you to come down to the infirmary, Sergeant."_

He keyed up again, "What's going on Specialist?"

_"__Not over the AM, Sarge. Just need you to come down here, ASAP."_

"Copy, be there in ten," Colin slid his food toward Jane and snatched up his soda, "I got to go."

Jane looked guilty for messing with him over his lunch, "Everything okay?"

"Yeah," he said with a grumble, "I just wish once I could have lunch without an interruption."

He slid off the picnic table in the CQB Pavilion and headed toward his bike, "Griggs, start running the next group through at 1300!"

He nodded. Colin slid on to his Harley and rolled away.

Within a few minutes he was at the old infirmary which housed the Central Medical Station. Situated near the shooting range, the combat medics were setup to emergency treat any gunshot wounds and broken bones that may happen before ambulances could transport patients to St. Johns Hospital in Springfield. Since that kid of injury didn't happen often at LETO they mostly treated sprains, muscle pulls, and hangovers. He parked next to the door and headed in quickly.

The intake receptionist greeted him warmly, "Hello, Sergeant. What can we do for you?"

"I got it Grace." said a soft voice from the back. Specialist Julia Hill stepped out of a treatment room. Dressed in BDU cargo pants and combat boots with a standard brown t-shirt that showed off her curves, the tall attractive blond nodded curtly, a far cry from the usual flirty attitude that she usually used with him.

"C'mon, Sergeant." She said waving him back, "I think you need to see this."

O'Malley marched back, "What's going on?"

She walked with him down the hall, "A female LEO came in for treatment of a rash about 1130 hours. Upon the exam I determined that it wasn't a rash and I could use a second opinion."

"I'm not a doctor or a medic," he said sharply, "Dr. Mitchel from St Johns should be here in another hour."

"It's not a doctor's opinion I need." She said.

They reached a door and she knocked before entering. O'Malley waited for her to come back.

It only took a moment before she escorted him in.

"Janet? This is the Provost Marshall, Sergeant O'Malley and I need him to take a look."

The brunet on the exam was nude from the waist up, holding a towel over her chest. Her back had angry red band circumventing it at chest level with two thin lines rising up from the center reaching over her shoulders. Specialist Hill directed the medical lamp onto the woman's back and Colin leaned in for a closer look. What he found bothered him.

"I'm not medically trained but that is no rash." He said, "That's a chemical burn."

"And protocol requires me to notify the Provost Marshall." She said as she rested a hand on the young woman, "It goes all the way around, everywhere her underwear was in contact with her skin." She hesitated, "Top and bottom."

Colin walked around the table and pulled up a stool to look at the woman, "I'm truly sorry but I need to ask you a few questions." He said softly, "Can you do that for me, Janet?"

She nodded angrily, "I thought it was a rash."

"I know." He said, "Have you had these items washed since you've been here?"

She shook her head, "I washed them at home and just pulled them out today."

"Did you bring them with you to the med station?"

She shook her head again.

"Has anyone had access to your room since you came here?"

She looked up at him, "My roommate. A couple of gals from my department."

"You know I have to ask this and I promise I'll keep it confidential." He hesitated, "Any overnight guests?"

She stared at him, "No hookups or one night stands."

He nodded, "Alright. Specialist Hill is going to treat you. Then the three of us need to head to your room and secure these items for analysis."

She nodded, "I was told my things would be safe locked away in my room. How could something like this happen?"

"That is exactly what I need to know to make sure it never happens again." He said.

Julia Hill and Janet Ostrowski arrived at Building 180 with Colin directly behind them. Colin parked on the sidewalk in front of the door while Hill parked her CanAm Commander on the grass to the right. Once they entered the lobby Colin veered off toward a silver door the size of a call box. He took out his keys and selected one before jamming it into the lock and opening the door.

Hill looked at Janet, "He has to announce his presence since this is a female only building."

He unplugged his head set from his radio and plugged it into the jack inside the door and flipped up the single switch.

The hall filled with a brief tone before Colin spoke, "May I have your attention, my name is Sergeant First Class O'Malley, I am the Provost Marshal here at Ft. Justice. I will be entering this building in approximately fifteen seconds. All occupants are requested to ensure that you are covered appropriately. An announcement will also be made for my departure. Thank you for cooperating." He flipped the switch down and pulled his cord out and quickly plugged it back into his radio before locking the call box.

Only then did Hill open the door. Janet led them down the hallway to her room. Once inside Ostrowski immediately went to her bathroom and picked up a sporty racer back bra and matching panties, Victoria's Secret athletic line. Not overly expensive but definitely not cheap. She handed them to Hill.

"This was what I was wearing today since 6:30 this morning. I didn't have any problems until about quarter after ten."

Colin handed Hill a Ziploc bag and she put them into it. "We'll get them back to you soon." Hill said.

Janet shook her head, "Thanks but I'll just buy some new ones, I don't want to see those again."

Colin looked around, "Has anything been out of place? Yesterday or today?"

She opened her mouth to say no then closed it. It took her a second "now that I'm thinking about it," she pointed to the underwear in the bag, "I remember that I had those packed pretty deeply into my suit case but when I got up and opened the suit case they were right on top of my other clothes."

He nodded, "If you'd like I can have the base laundry service rewash all of your clothing. Just in case anything else was tainted."

"Thanks but I got it." She said, "I'm not going to let this bag out of my sight until I'm certain it'll be safe."

He nodded, "I understand, if there's anything we can do to help. Let me or specialist Hill know as soon as possible." He smiled and headed out the door with Hill right behind him.

"Interesting," she said, "Tainted underwear that produces a delayed chemical burn?"

He walked toward the fire exit at the end of the hall, "For that kind of delay, you need an agent you can spray on and let dry. It goes inert and when she started sweating, the moisture reactivated the compound and burns her skin."

"Scary stuff." Hill shook her head, "would you come by and make sure my underwear drawer is clear?"

He glared at her, "Really bad timing, lass."

Hill stared directly at him, the worry in her eyes was genuine, "I'm quite serious. This is giving me the creeps."

He stopped at the fire door, "I'll have Corporal Angie Mueller come by with a decon kit tonight, okay?"

She nodded.

Colin looked at the fire door, he leaned down to inspect the handle for tampering. Seeing nothing he put his hand on the door and it moved. He glanced at Hill. He pushed gently and the door opened without having the handle turned. "Well that's not supposed to happen."

He stepped out and looked at the door jamb. Not seeing anything in the locking bolt hole he turned to the bolt its self. It was jammed in the slide. Colin pulled his knife and pried the bold loose. It slid back into place. He pushed the bolt back into the door gently where once again it became stuck.

"That's one question answered." He said as knelt on one knee and peered closely at the bolt. He touched the door gently, noting how his finger stuck briefly to the door sill. "Adhesive."

"What?" Hill asked, "What did you say?"

He stood up, "Someone sprayed adhesive into the door jamb and when the bolt was retracted into the door by turning the handle and it promptly jammed inside the slide, causing the door to remain unsecured."

He keyed up his radio, "O'Malley to Maintenance."

_"__Maintenance, Sergeant Richardson." _ The radio crackled.

"I need a door handle and lock assembly changed on the south east emergency exit of building 180. I also want security flanges, stripping, and door alarms attached to every emergency exit of every female building on post, staff and guest. Copy."

_"__Copy that Sarge. You want a rush on it?"_

"Damn right, done by end of business, today."

_"__Roger that, I'll put everyone I got on it."_

"Good man. O'Malley out." He stepped back into the building.

* * *

><p><strong>CQB Round 2: NYB Taskforce team<strong>

Kate and Jane dove head first over the desk, both landed in a heap while paint sprayed all around them. They quickly recovered and spun into a crouch, each grabbing a side and flipping the desk so the top faced the drones. No longer in immediate danger of being hit, Kate quickly took stock of the situation.

"Okay, so an unknown number of bastards have us pinned down behind a desk." She said as she reloaded her weapon.

Jane shook her head, "Yep, and were trapped in this room until we can clear them out."

Kate stuck a foot out of the side and was rewarded with more paint flying. "They seem to be attentive today."

Jane edged her head around the desk and nearly caught yet another burst. "And we can't even get a glimpse of what they're doing without getting hit."

"Shit!" She kicked the chair in front of them. It went rolling into the kill zone and was immediately sprayed, "It's Griggs, he's got it on manual."

Jane nodded, "Griggs! You put that machine back on auto right now or I'm going to kick your ass when I get out of here!"

One single paint shot splattered on the wall, over her head. "Prick!" Kate shouted.

Bowing her head, Jane thought for a minute, "It's only going to be a matter of time before he sends that roller in here to see what we're doing."

"Yeah," Kate's eyes closed. The thought got to her for a second, until an idea hit her. "That's it."

Jane looked at her, "What."

Kate smiled as she dug into her pocket. It was a second before she came out with a small black disc. Jane frowned until she realized it was a compact.

She eyed her partner, _what are you doing?_

Kate smirked, _Get ready._

She slowly raised the compact, tilting the mirror so she could see the door way. The drone was sitting in the middle, two paint guns pointed at their cover. Kate shifted her foot out and it adjusted, fired and returned to the head shot position.

She smiled at Jane, _I got this, back me up. _ She shifted her position so she was on her belly. She eased her pistol around the side, just barely visible. With her compact in her other hand she eyed her sights.

As the machine adjusted to shoot again, Kate squeezed of a round. The machine took it right in the face. Its red eyes dimmed and the drone was withdrawn.

Jane popped up and took aim at the door as another machine moved to take over. Jane took it out too. Kate climbed over the desk and ran for the left side of the door, waiting for more targets. Jane bolted for the other side while Kate covered her. More rollers slid down the hall and Jane took a few more down. Kate fired too, in the opposite direction.

"Their trying to overrun us," Jane said, "Make 'em count."

"I didn't bring any." Kate shouted, "So let me know." She caught her partner's eye for an instant. Jane smirked at Kate's lie.

Jane fired again, "Well, were only four rounds from fucked then."

Kate pulled the trigger again, her pistol slide stayed open, "Shit!" she said as she ejected the mag and behind her back slid another one in its place. "I'm out."

Jane cursed with a smile, "Well, this was fun." She fired and jumped sides to take out Kate's target before returning to her side to take out yet another one.

The last machine stopped before entering the hall, Jane eased her head out and it fired at her. She ducked and barely missed eating paint. She lurched out again and fired her last round. It went wide.

She called down the hall, "Shit, I'm out." as Kate handed her a fresh one.

Kate smiled to her partner, "Fuck. We just lost this one. Thanks Jane!"

Jane used every ounce of self-control to keep the humor out of her voice, "ME! What about you? You were supposed to bring the reloads. We'd have this in the bag if you'd have remembered."

Kate shoved her fist to her mouth to keep from laughing. Jane caught sight of the roller coming down the hall to finish them off. She nodded to Kate and they went back to the middle of the room. They each sat on a corner of the overturned desk and raised their pistols, the machine slid to a halt and turned toward them.

"Sucker!" they shouted in unison and blasted the machine in the face.

The buzzer sounded the lights came on and they laughed, hard.

By the time they regained control, Colin was standing in the door, "Nice work. They're going to be picking paint out of Boss Man for a week."

Kate smiled, "That's why you have us running in last."

Jane smiled at her partner, "How did you know Griggs would fall for it?"

"Colin?" Kate said smoothly.

He laughed, "When he goes into manual control, he can't see any of the evaluation feeds. Only what the drones see."

Kate smiled at her partner, "I realized that when I was watching the one that had us pinned down. Griggs couldn't see us in the room cameras because he was watching through the drones."

Jane got it immediately and stared at Colin, "To protect the integrity of the CQB."

Colin beamed at her, "To have access to all feeds would create an unfair advantage."

Jane held up a fist, "So he could hear through the room mikes but not see us."

"That's right," Kate said as she bumped fists.

They stood up and Jane slapped her partner on the back, "good job, partner."

Colin waited for them in the hall and slid his arms over their shoulders, "You two are going to ruin my reputation, you know. I pride myself on creating challenges. You two make it look easy."

* * *

><p><strong>Staff Pavilion, 20:00<strong>

"Ladies, May I have your attention please." Colin said after he cleared his throat. He stepped up onto a picnic table so he had a good view of the entire events female staff. Most of them had gathered as close as they could. He was after all, considered the catch of the Event.

His piercing blue eyes took in the sight of soldiers, marines and other event workers.

"For those of you who don't know, I'm here as the Provost Marshal and I need your help." He started to pace slightly upon the picnic table, "Earlier today, Specialist Hill called me down to the med station and showed me a LEO who had received a chemical burn from her clothing. Her unmentionable garments were sprayed with a chemical compound that was allowed to dry. She wore these garments for most of the morning until the compound which we have identified as a type of Mace was reactivated by her perspiration during one of our training events."

A tall robust woman called out, "How'd her clothes get saturated?"

He looked out towards the voice, "Near as we can tell, someone entered her room after accessing the building from a fire exit. Selected clothing and sprayed it with an aerosol."

"Someone gained access to her room?" The voice was alarmed.

"Yes." He said in resignation, "To be honest I am surprised we haven't had an issue with this before. Many of you have noticed the maintenance personnel working on your buildings. They installed some new security measures to all the fire doors including alarms that emit a high pitched siren when the door is open. This was done today for your safety. I know that the no smoking policy in the buildings are an annoyance to you smokers but it was necessary to limit access to all female buildings, staff and guest alike."

"As an added precaution, I want to set up a fire guard." They looked around at each other as he continued, "AS many of you have or are currently serving, you know what a fire guard is but for those of you who are not military, I'll explain. A fire Guard is a detail of personnel who stay awake and are tasked with keeping the building secure and keeping watch in the event of a fire. Ordinarily the task is performed by two people per floor and they are rotated out every hour but due to the limited amount of personnel we have to work with and that we are requiring personnel for a twenty four hour watch, I'd like to see enough volunteers for a six hour shift at the main doors of each female building."

"And what about the rest of the time? Many of us are already working sixteen hours a day." A woman called out."

"I have been authorized by Springfield to compensate you with a day's wage for every six hour shift plus you will have the remaining eighteen hours off duty. Any one offering twelve hours will be paid time and a half. That's a day and a half's wage. It's important to Springfield that the needs of both our female visitors and our female staff are met and that your rooms are kept secure."

"Added security doesn't hurt but what are you doing to catch this son of a bitch?" It was a tall well-built woman from the back of the room. He recognized the voice and wasn't terribly pleased. Tall, muscular and with a predatory gait that he knew very well. "Ladies, this is Officer Abigayle Ward of Baltimore SWAT."

He looked down at her in her black fatigues and tight tank top. "This meeting is for the event staff, a similar meeting is scheduled tomorrow for our guests."

"That doesn't mean shit to me Colin, especially when the woman attacked was my roommate." She said and there was anger in her voice. "Ostrowski is a friend of mine and I want the one responsible."

He stepped down to her, "I want the one responsible more than you do. I've got my best people on it and more than a few extra personnel to help out if needed. We'll find this _dosser_, Abby, you have my word."

She stared at him. "And what happens next time he does this?"

"If we act now then there won't be a next time." He looked around at the women, "I need Fire Guard volunteers. Specialist Hill will take names."

He turned and headed out of the pavilion with Abby Ward right on his heels. "You know that a fire Guard will only stop it from happening to the women. The men's barracks are still vulnerable."

As he straddled his Harley he looked back at her, "The person who did this was a coward to attack a woman' brassier. I highly doubt that we're going to find mace in men's briefs. Thus far we have no reason to think that this is anything more than a bad prank but on the chance that its something more, I have people looking in to Ostrowski 's case."

He fired up the bike and she watched as he rolled away slowly.


	6. Chapter 6

_**As promised, the double header, it veers away slightly from the rest of the story but it was important to get it cleared out and also a tip of the hat to our guest commenter. Z, nice call on the grammar, I can go over it fifty times and never see it until it posts, I'm starting to think I need to send these to you via email so you can check my work before I post. Good looking out. Some angst here but if you read the Diary you'll see where I'm going. Plus I wanted to throw in some Pre-Rizzles Rizzles action. Oh, to the mystery guest. Google Charlie Crews played by Damian Lewis for info on this man. MJ, M, I miss you both. Hope you come back soon.**_

* * *

><p><strong>Building 83, Provost Marshall's Office <strong>

**0930 Hours**

Jane and Kate leaned over the computer that Colin had arranged for them to use. The webcam was sending their image to a conference video between Kate and Jane's units. Maura Frost, and Korsak were on the right side and Ryan and Esposito were on the left, a black bar separating them.

_"__So does it hurt when you get hit with those paint things?" _Ryan asked.

Kate smiled, "I'll bring you home some so you can try it out."

Esposito leaned into the screen,_ "__Can I shoot him with one?"_

Jane and Kate laughed.

"I definitely plan on using a few on Crowe," Jane said. "two shots in the ass should dislodge that stick." The Boston crew laughed.

_"__So how are you guys doing?" _Korsak asked, _"__In the games."_

Jane shrugged, "We just finished 2nd in the semifinals for two events but the CQB is where we're really focused."

"Yeah, were squaring off with our friends from SVU. They've been partners for ten years and their good so were in for a fight." added Kate.

Frost spoke next, _"I just can't believe how well you work together especially since you've only been together a week." _It was clear that he was a little self-conscious about it.

"Awe, don't worry Frost," Kate said, "I'll have her back to you soon."

A tall black man with greying hair stepped into view causing the other NYPD detectives to back up, _"Detective Rizzoli. I'm Captain Montgomery, Beckett's CO. I've been reviewing your progress over the last week as well as your Boston jacket and I want you to know that there's a place here in homicide for you should you get tired of Boston."_

Jane froze up for a second, "Uh, thank you, sir but I couldn't leave Boston."

He smiled, _"I know but I'm sure Lieutenant Marquette is going to make a similar offer to Beckett. Figured I'd beat him to it."_

_"__Why you dirty NYPD bastard,"_ Marquette seated himself in front of the screen, _"__Trying to poach one of my best detectives."_

_"__Tell me you weren't going to do the same."_

Marquette turned red before bursting with laughter, _"Alright, yeah. Beckett, there's room here for you and we'll even help you move and find a new place."_

_"__Ha.!"_ Montgomery shouted, _"__I knew it."_

Beckett shifted as uncomfortably as Rizzoli. "I hear there might be a pair of openings in Baltimore." Jane whispered.

Beckett laughed softly, "Not far enough, but I've heard Cincinnati is nice."

Jane smiled at their CO's who were now engaged in a slightly less than friendly argument, "Well, sirs, this has been nice but we really need to get back to the games."

Kate smiled too, "We have to preserve the reputation of cooperation between our departments."

Without another word, they got up and left the captains opened mouthed.

_"__I hate it when she makes me feel like I'm in the wrong." _Montgomery said.

_"__Tell me about it."_ Marquette agreed.

* * *

><p><strong>CQB Round 3 – NYPD SVU Team<strong>

Olivia Benson walked out of the back door of the CQB with wearing several smears of paint, bright crimson paint. Elliot Stabler joined her with a limp. He too sported several red blotches. Liv had taken two paint rounds to the shoulder, three in the leg, one that smeared her hair next to her ear, and just to make sure she was thoroughly humiliated; one to her left cheek so she would leave paint marks wherever she sat. Stabler bared the worst of it though. He had three across his chest, two on his leg, and one directly into the groin, hence the limp.

Colin smiled, "So I guess this means today was a challenge?"

Stabler glared, "Yeah, you could say that. Tell Griggs he better hide today for that sharp shot to my balls."

Colin laughed hard, "Sadly, the computer took that shot, so Griggs is off the hook. You walked right into that round's trajectory."

Liv was picking paint out of her hair, "If you're going to set up an ambush like that, you need to give us paint grenades or something."

Elliot looked to Colin, "How did we do?"

Colin shook his head with amusement "Better than anyone else. Dade was taken out entirely, only took out two units before they bought it. LAPD did better, actually got three before they bought the farm. You were the only ones who took out all six. Liv fired the last kill shot right after you got it. Current points standing is you, LAPD, then Dade"

A smile rose from Elliot, "So all that's left to run is Kate and Jane."

Liv smiled too, "And we were tied before we went in."

* * *

><p><strong>CQB Round 3 – NYB Task Force Team<strong>

Kate ducked as several paint rounds went flying passed her shoulder, she glanced back at her partner. Jane was already firing rounds into the drone that had caused her to duck. Jane's eyes met hers, Kate nodded. She slid down onto her back to cover the room as Jane leapt over her cover. More red and green paint rounds passing through the foggy air. Jane had made it to the office area with Kate hot on her heels. Jane knelt next to the door while Kate stood tall over her. Kate patted her shoulder and they leaned in, together. Ducking back just in time before the wall behind them was covered in red.

"There fortified." Jane said. "Three on the right.

Kate nodded, "Three more on the left and their well covered."

"I didn't see another way in." Jane said. "You?"

Kate looked up to the ceiling, "Maybe."

She backed away from the door to the warehouse. Looking again to the ceiling, "You ever play on the monkey bars as a kid?"

Jane eased away to look at what Kate saw, "Awe, hell no."

"You or me." Kate said.

Jane eyed the suspended catwalk, "Your crazy but it could work."

Kate patted her shoulder again and they were off to find a ladder. It took them a few moments to find the roof access ladder but within a few minutes they were climbing up to the catwalk that suspended several lights and hoses from the ceiling.

They quickly pulled on their fingerless gloves and grabbed the suspension cable that connected the catwalk to the ceiling. Jane shouted, "This is going to suck."

"Unless we pull it off, we'll be the talk of the event." Kate said.

Jane shimmied across the narrow steel, "Worth it!"

They stopped at the wall that housed the well-armed office. Suspended from the hangar ceiling was the equipment that operated the machines. All the wires ran through a central bundle at the back of the room but they weren't here for that. Jane crouched on the catwalk and used a knife to ease up the corner of a ceiling tile.

The view was spectacular. Clean shots for all six from behind. Jane laid down on her belly and motioned for Kate to lay on top. A wide eye and a second later, they were stacked like lumber on the steel catwalk, looking into a room full of machines. Jane propped the tile with her knife as Kate pulled Jane's pistol from her partner's hip. Jane took it in hand as Kate pulled her own. They aimed carefully, Kate farther, Jane nearer. Three rounds each later it was over. The buzzer sounded and the lights came up. Kate eased off of Jane and both sat on the walk to await Colin.

He walked in smiling, "I swear that you two are determined to make my boys commit suicide." He pointed to the metal they were sitting on. "I should disqualify you for using equipment not in the scenario but I always teach my troops to use whatever's available."

"Awe." She said to Jane, "Colin's brain boys are crying today."

"Again?" Jane replied, "After what we did to them in the first and second rounds they should be used to it."

"We're girls, Colin. We work smarter, not harder." Kate said loudly.

"Well, after the unorthodox way you took out the James Gang," He waved to the office, "I dare say you'll be facing Liv and El in the last round. Your score eliminated Dade entirely."

"How did they do?" Jane asked.

He laughed, "You're going to have to wait for the video." He turned and headed for the door.

Kate shouted, "Hey, how about a ladder or something to get us down."

Colin turned to face them at the door, a huge grin on his face, "You got up there. I'm sure you can find a way down. Just remember to work smarter, not harder."

Kate and Jane exchanged a look, then pulled their guns and opened fire on Colin, who dove through the open door.

They laughed heartedly as they holstered their now empty pistols and struggled to get up.

* * *

><p><strong>Beacon Hill Home of Dr. Isles<strong>

Maura smiled as she caught the name displayed as her phone rang. She felt her heart speed up a few beats per minute and her breath hitched slightly. Odd, she hadn't had that reaction before. She put the thought away for future contemplation as she answered her phone.

"Hello Jane." She said trying not to reveal her excitement.

_"Hey, Maura."_ The husky voice said, _"Did you see the video today?"_

She glanced to her laptop where the image of Jane yanking Kate out of danger was frozen. "Yes, you and Kate work very well together. I am glad to see that you are having so much fun."

_"This place is awesome!"_ It was hard not to smile at Jane's exuberance, _"I swear, I wish I had one of those high limit credit cards. I'd come home with all kinds of cool shit."_

"Language, Jane." Maura said chidingly. "If you'd like I could purchase a few items for you."

She heard a groan on the other end of the line, _"I couldn't do that to you, Maura."_

"Jane, it's alright. I don't mind." She said her voice slightly tender.

_"Maura, that's how people can take advantage of you."_ she said, _"Your too nice."_

_You'd never take advantage of me,_ she thought to herself. It was one of the reasons she liked Jane so much. She could be rude, crass, and bitchy sometimes but Jane wouldn't take advantage. "I wouldn't offer to just any one," _only you._ The thought struck her hard for a split second but it felt right. Jane was after all a friend.

_"I know but I just wouldn't feel right about it, I'm sorry."_ Her voice sounded a touch regretful and Maura was starting to understand Jane's different tones of voice. This was the one that worried about hurting Maura's feelings.

She put some comfort in her voice and smiled, "It's alright Jane. I was just offering."

Silence fell between them and Maura had the image of Jane sitting alone, head down, holding the phone to her ear.

She didn't like sad Jane. "How are your hands doing?" Probably not the best subject but a definite change.

_"There good."_ There was something in her voice as she lowered it a little, _"I took your advice and I let someone work them out."_

Maura was both happy and saddened at that statement. On the one hand she didn't want Jane to be in pain but on the other, she had secretly liked being the only one the tough as nails, bad ass detective let help her with something she saw as a weakness. There was a minor feeling that she couldn't readily identify.

"Oh that's good," she said, "I'm glad that Kate was able to help you."

Silence and then, _"It's not Kate. It's Liv."_

"Liv?" Maura frowned. Jane hasn't said much about Olivia Benson. Maura had come to the natural conclusion that Kate was taking care of her partner.

_"Yeah,"_ Jane said quietly. _"She's been though some shi, er... stuff too and neither of us talks about it."_

Maura knew that she shouldn't be surprised, Jane was a wonderful person and made friends easy enough but again Maura felt something she couldn't quite identify. Or rather she didn't want to identify. She had to be careful.

She enjoyed spending time with Jane more than she had let on but the friendship was still new. One slip that Maura found Jane attractive and the confident brunette might run for the hills. Effectively ending the best friendship Maura had ever had.

_"Maura?"_ the voice called out, _"Are you there?"_

_Oh, shit!_ She pinched her face together in a very unladylike and embarrassed look. "Yes, I'm sorry I was momentarily distracted." _Focus, Maura, don't slip._

* * *

><p><em>What was that?<em> Jane thought to herself as she palmed a grip on her sweatpants. She had caught the change in Maura's voice and the hesitation when she mentioned Liv. _Distract, change subjects!_ It was as much for Jane as for Maura.

"So Colin took me out to the range today and let me shoot his Glock 37." _Like she's going to know what that is._

_"I heard that the Glock Corporation came out with their new 45 caliber model."_ Jane stared at the phone as Maura continued. _"I read in a recent release that they manufacture a special type of ammunition for it. Glock Automatic Pistol rounds I believe is what they are calling them."_

Jane flopped back onto her bed and pulled a pillow closer to her chest. "I swear you know everything. How did you hear about gap rounds?"

_"I'm the Chief Medical Examiner for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts."_ She said nonchalantly. _"Glock releases ballistics data to State and Federal Law Enforcement agencies all over the world as well as State Medical Examiners and top crime laboratories in the united states. Since I represent the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, I was one of the first to get a copy which I then disseminated to those below my position."_

"You're amazing." She said with more pride than she meant to as she unconsciously held the pillow tightly.

_"I'm just doing my job, Jane."_ Maura said in a serious tone. _"I have an obligation to keep the people I represent informed and up to date on the latest developments pertaining to their jobs."_

Jane snorted, "Like that matters too people like Pike or Popov."

A loud sigh, _"Yes, unfortunately all I can do is provide the data, I can't make them use it."_

_Nice Job, Rizzoli. Remind her about the idiots she deals with._ "So, how's everything in Boston?"

_"Nothing in particular comes to mind except that there is a substantial wager going on over the Clo… CQB."_

Jane smiled as Maura corrected herself. "Oh, really? What's the bet?"

_"Detectives Korsak and Frost put in one hundred dollars each that your task force will win first place. Detective Crowe bet fifty dollars that you'll be eliminated next round and there is a betting pool going around the entire Department for score, times, and placement. The total amount of the pools wager is two thousand and forty dollars."_

Jane sat up sharply, shouting "A two grand pot?!"

_"Yes, although your friends from SVU are apparently favored slightly. Detective Korsak said that it was natural considering that they had won last year's Partnership games."_

Jane was floored. She had never been involved with such a large betting pool and certainly she'd never been in the center of one and today was only round three. She thought about that for a second.

"How much did you bet?" She asked, curious about her friend.

_"Jane, I only bet when I know I'll win."_ She said.

"No faith in me Maura?" Jane chided in jest.

Maura missed it entirely. _"Jane I know you're talented but there are several fields and possibilities that making an accurate determination would be next to impossible."_

She laughed softly.

_"Jane"_ Maura whined slightly, _"It's not funny. I'm being serious."_

"I know, Maur." She said still smiling to herself. "I'm not laughing at you, I… I just love the way you think sometimes." Her face fell as that hit a little too close to home for her.

She could almost feel Maura's smile on the other end of the line. _"Why, thank you Jane. I'm afraid I'm not very good at understanding your humor sometimes."_

She could feel her smile as it reached her eyes, mentally congratulating her on bringing out a truth that Maura didn't typically reveal. The beautiful ME was funny in her own odd way and Jane liked bringing that out. It was a challenge since Maura was so enclosed and Jane loved a good challenge.

"I thought you had a date tonight." Jane said, trying to get more out of the lovely ME.

_"I did but he wasn't very interesting."_ Maura said simply, _"He was a prime specimen of male physiology but he bit me so I threw him out."_

"He bit you?!" Jane laughed. "I don't think I want to know any more."

_"Well we weren't having sex, Jane."_ She said, _"We were making out and he bit onto my lip too hard for my comfort."_

Jane laughed whole heartedly as Maura described the incident.

_"I don't mind a little pain but it hurt. He was flicking my tongue with his and then he bit my bottom lip and it hurt. He left marks."_ Maura huffed, _"Can you imagine what that could have felt like in other, more sensitive parts of my body that he had out?"_

Jane tried to stop laughing, "Maura I'm not sure that we've been friends long enough to talk about other parts of your body that were out."

_"Oh."_ She heard the slight embarrassment in Maura's voice, _"I apologies. I didn't mean to over step the bounds of our friendship."_

She didn't like that sound, not one bit. And it stopped her amusement cold. "No, you didn't overstep. I'm… I just… I don't need to hear all the details to get the idea, ya know." She cringed. That wasn't it and she knew it.

_"Oh."_ She said, _"I think I understand."_

The tome from her friend was better and she started to smile again, She couldn't help it, she wanted to tease her, "A biter, huh? But you don't mind a little pain?"

Maura again oblivious to the joke ran off immediately into information overload. _"A little pain is good sometimes but I have to be in the mood for it. Just some added pressure from teeth, or a slightly harder pinch, nothing that would leave marks. Most of the time it's what happens during the date. I like tactile contact long before sex. I like it when someone guides me around with a hand on my lower back or rubs a thumb over my shoulder, things most people don't think about that make me feel appreciated. As far as actual intercourse I like variety. I like for my partner to take charge one night and let me take charge the next. I like to be showered with kisses more than having my tongue examined. A touch of a gentle tongue along my neck in the right place can excite me more than… well… other things."_

She gently ran her hand along her bare leg as she listened to the melodic quality of Maura's voice. Despite her initial discomfort, Jane was wrapped into the insight she was being flooded with. Not that she was interested in Maura but it gave her an idea to compare with her own sense what she liked which was something Jane had never seemed to find. She never felt satisfied with her lovers and often wondered what was so wrong with her that she couldn't figure out what she liked but she could find more satisfaction by herself and without toys, than she could with them or any man she'd been with. Often she had found her pleasure at home, after whoever had left. Comparing Maura's preferences with hers, she thought about how wonderful her friend made it sound. How amazing it would be to know what she liked and didn't like. Her hand drifted along the inside of her thigh in a downward motion and she shivered. She liked _that _and she ran her hand along her bare leg again.

_Bare Leg?!_

Jane looked down to see that her leg was indeed bare. Her eyes widened as she looked at what little clothing she had on. A plain black bra and grey cotton briefs. She looked around and tried to recall the last few minutes. She had entered her room and changed out of her clothes to get ready for bed. Yep, there on the floor by the door were her boots, cargo pants and t-shirt. She was goingto put on her pajama bottoms and a fresh tee for bed but remember being chilly and instead opted for sweats and a log sleeve shirt. So why was she half naked. She had been dressed when she had called Maura.

_Oh come on, I barely drank anything tonight._ She thought remembering the four lagers she had drank with the others earlier. As she stood up she looked around and realized she wasn't cold at all. She looked at the thermostat, it was off. The rooms temperature was 63 degrees. Jane's skin felt warm.

_"Jane?"_ Maura's voice echoed from the phone.

"Sorry, I just realized my room's thermostat must be on the fritz." She said. _That must be it._ Although she didn't really believe it, she still latched on to the explanation with everything she had because she didn't even want to form the thought of what else could make her flush.

She tucked the phone between her ear and her shoulder as she rubbed furiously at the angry red scars on her hands. It was a nervous gesture and she knew it. There it was again, that place she didn't want to look at.

"Hey, I'm going to head off to bed." She said sheepishly, "I got to get up early and get ready for the games."

Maura heard that sound in her voice but she had been too relieved to understand it. She had gotten so into the moment of explaining to her friend what she liked that she had forgotten to dial down her enthusiasm. It was almost too much information and she had caught herself before she had said anything serious. Her skin had heated up and she had a good idea why, but it was too late to stop the imagery that paraded through her mind, imagery of long black curly hair draped against her bare skin in the most intimate of caresses.

Maura shook the thought down, _Looks like another night in the bath._

_"That sounds like a good idea,"_ Maura said and Jane let go of the breath she was holding.

She didn't want to hurt her friend's feelings but the topic of conversation was doing things she didn't want to know about let alone admit to herself.

Jane nodded to fast, "Yeah, I know you have to work tomorrow."

_"Yes, I do."_

She sat there. On the bed, not thinking and not doing. "So, umm, good night."

_"Good night Jane."_

Maura didn't hang up. Jane waited but it didn't happen. She opened her mouth to say something but hit the call end button before she did say something.

"Maura," it was a whisper and she couldn't stop it from escaping. She threw the phone across the room not out of anger but out of desperation to get it away from her. She flopped back into the bed and covered her face with her palms. It was getting harder, harder to push down and away. She clenched her eyes shut and tried hard to see the wall in her mind where she kept those things. Things like Hoyt. Martinez. And things that her faith wouldn't allow or except, things that made her a bad person.

She jumped out of bed and ran the shower wanting nothing but ice against her hot, needy, sensitive skin. She didn't even bother to take off her underwear as she stepped hurriedly into the freezing water. Partly because it didn't matter, she knew what would be there when she took them of and partly because although she'd never admit it. She did not trust her traitorous hands. Hands that _he_ had marked as his. She fell to her knees under the icy water.

The images kept coming and she couldn't stop them. Hoyt's discussing face inches above hers when she came awake to the searing pain in her hand. She instinctively clutched her left hand as the pain of that night shot through it all over again as if it was happening all over again. She bit her lip hard to keep from crying out. The pain stabbed her right hand next and she whimpered. She wanted to hide away, she couldn't let anyone see her like this, she couldn't. She could see Hoyt looking int her eyes and she clenched them tight. Even though she knew he wasn't there she could smell his breath. Feel the heat of his hand against her breast. The cold surgical steel of his scalpel, dragged casually down her cheek. She cried out.

_No, god, please, No. I'm sorry. _She thought as hard as she could to the heavens_. I know I'm not a good catholic. I know that I should feel shame but please, Not like this. NOT LIKE THIS!_

She lay in the shower, lost in post-traumatic-stress syndrome. Her cries had not gone unheard and soon a friend had found her curled into a fetal position beneath freezing water. Her shaky voice was whispering the catholic prayer of Hail Mary in Latin over and over as she cried.

She fell silent as hands embraced her own. Kind and gentle, the delicate hands of a real doctor, soft and slender, as they had gently changed the bandages that covered them. She looked up to see slender arms and feminine shoulders and honey blond locks of hair as her friend tended her.

Her dark eyes met hazel with small flecks of gold and she wanted to say so many things then how wonderful her friend was and how appreciative she was. She wanted to apologies for being bitchy and moody and generally carrying on cranky. But she couldn't find the words. She never could find the words. Only three seemed to fit but she couldn't say them. She couldn't feel them. All she ever had was her family and her faith and neither would accept those three little words. She dropped her eyes to her hands and again she shivered.

Completely drawn into the memory, she couldn't stop crying as the cold water turned warm and cascaded down her body completely unnoticed. As unnoticed as the strong hands that stripped her of her underwear and gently washed her down before shutting off the shower and toweling her off. Jane was completely unaware she was being taken care of so delicately but those hands had been so gentle and caring that Jane's eyes flittered open slowly.

"I love you." she whispered and was gone again.

Olivia gently eased Jane up into her arms and carried her out of the bathroom and laid her down gently in bed. She quietly slipped her into a t shirt, panties and the ugly blue pajama pants that she had found in the suit case before tucking her under the warm blankets. Jane was still lost inside so Liv refused to leave her like that and laid down gently next to her friend. Being sure that Jane stayed safe was the single thought in Liv's head as she gently ran her fingers through the damp mane of ebony.

She kept mumbling thank yous and I'm sorrys as she drifted through the episode. Her eyes flittered open again and as before Liv could see that Jane wasn't really there. "I love you, Maur." Her arm drifted around Liv's shoulders and Jane pulled her down into a kiss.

This was not what Liv needed right now but she knew that Jane was lost and needed something to return, so she kissed her back. Their tongues danced with each other as Jane gently stroked Liv's back. And when she pulled away her eyes were closed and her breathing had leveled out. She whispered I love you.

That was the moment that Olivia Benson knew that she would never be with Jane Rizzoli, that Jane belonged only with Maura Isles.

So Liv whispered into her ear gently, "I love you too, Jane. And one day soon, I'll show you how much I love you." She hoped that she had sounded like Jane's Maura.


	7. Chapter 7

_**OK so I threw out a triple threat for know, don't know how busy I'm going to be tomorrow so on the off chance I can't post, I'm posting now. Enjoy. Please comment because we're almost done with The Gun Show. I'm estimating about 12 chapters total and unlike the Diary, My Muse is insistent because she wants to start posting Burn. Plot and Key scenes are done but I really want to float through it like I did DOJ. As Castle said, it's no fun when you know every outcome, every detail of the characters.**_

_**Z, and mystery guest. Could you give me an idea on some fun fluff? I've been kind of off beat on that lately.**_

_**In answer to your question, TGS takes place in May of '08, DOJ starts in August of '12 and runs till January of '13. Burn will start either July or Aug '13 with two shorts to fill in. Possibly more.**_

* * *

><p><strong>CQB Control room. 1023 Hours.<strong>

"Davison to O'Malley." The radio squawked.

Colin set his coffee down and answered his radio. "Go for O'Malley."

"Sarge, we need you in 121. There's been an accident."

He scrunched his eyebrows together, "What kind of accident?"

"The kind that doesn't need an ambulance."

Colin went cold. Accidents that didn't require an ambulance were not typically reported to him. The fact that Davison had specifically reported both was not a good sign.

"Be right there, out." He said in response.

He handed the clipboard to Briggs who took it without comment having heard the radio conversation on the repeater.

As he was heading out of the observation room, he spoke to Griggs. "Slow down the resets."

"Got it." He said as the door shut.

Colin stomped across the lot and headed straight for the CQB Pavilion, where the various teams were waiting for their turn to head in to Round Three. He spied Kate and Jane sitting off to one side quietly chatting while ignoring the quiet comments and leers from several of the other teams. All chatter stopped as O'Malley walked around the covered picnic area.

"Carry on." He said to the others as he approached them.

They looked up at him as he approached. "What's up, Sarge?" Kate said.

"I need you two to come with me, no questions asked." He said quietly as he headed toward his bike.

Kate exchanged a glance with Jane and they were on their feet, marching after them. Several other LEOs watched as Colin threw a leg over the bike and fired it up. Kate jumped onto hers and repeated the action.

Colin looked at Jane, "Get on, Jane. We've got to go." He straightened the bike and leaned forward.

Jane didn't question, just climbed on and Colin kicked it into gear and hauled off with Kate right behind him.

They turned off the concrete path to the CQB hangar and onto a two track dirt path. Once there Colin gunned it and Jane had to hold on tight to avoid falling off. She turned back to see Kate with a serious look on her face as she rode on the other side of the track.

They ran hard across a small network of tracks and finally came out near a road to the barracks. Colin kicked it up another gear and roared towards the far side of the buildings. He eased off as they neared one with several of those four seater ATVs clustered near one building entrance. He pulled up onto the sidewalk and stopped near the door. He shut the bike off and Jane heard Kate pull up behind them.

Jane slid off and took a step back as Colin leaned the big bike onto the kickstand. He eased off the bike and looked at both of them.

"I got a bad feeling about something but I want your opinion before I do anything about it."

Kate nodded and Jane echoed her.

He led the way to a group of MPs blocking the door.

"Anyone make a female announcement?" he asked.

"Specialist Hill is inside now." One replied.

He nodded, "Kate Beckett, NYPD and Jane Rizzoli, Boston Police. Log them in with me as consultants."

He nodded and wrote on his clipboard. "Third floor, East washroom."

Colin led the way into the building and rushed up the stairs with NYB team right behind him.

When they entered the communal bathroom, the sight that greeted them slammed Jane into her Homicide detective mode and a glance from Kate said that she was there too.

There on the floor of the shower room was a body with a large pool of blood that ran across the cheap ceramic tile directly to the shower drain in the middle of the room. A smear of blood was also on the wall next to the entrance inside the room.

An attractive platinum Blonde dressed in a soldier's uniform was holding an ice pack to her head while sitting on a bench being looked at by another Medic.

Sergeant Davison was very tall but slender for an army cop, dressed in camouflage and wearing the leather armband of an MP. He stopped Jane from going in.

"Not a good idea," He nodded to Hill. "She fell first thing."

Jane nodded and Colin looked to Hill, "What happened?"

She looked up at him, still dazed. "Came in with Davison and saw the body. Went in to check on him and slipped on the floor. Luckily, Davison caught me before I cracked my head open."

Colin nodded and Davison pointed, "You need to see this." He said and knelt outside of the shower room, "Look at the floor."

Colin looked but all he saw was soap scum. "Maintenance didn't clean it all that well."

Jane leaned over them as did Kate. Colin touched the floor and came away with the stuff on one finger.

Jane stared at it and so did Kate.

"Gross," Kate said, "Glad I'm not sleeping here."

"Yeah." Davison said, "That was my first impression too, but look at this."

He pulled a water bottle out and poured some on the tile floor. He put the bottle down. They looked but all they saw was the water beading against the tile.

"I'm assuming something important is going on but I don't see it." Jane said.

"Touch it again." Davison said.

Colin did and his hand slipped. Kate grabbed him by the neck of his vest but He had already righted himself.

"That's not soap scum." He said sharply.

"Nope." Davison said.

"Okay." Colin said, "These two are Homicide cops and I trust them so let's let them do their thing."

Davison and Colin got up and out of the way.

Jane grabbed some blue medical gloves from the Medic and passed one set to Kate. "Okay, so let's pretend that we've done this before."

"I've never investigated a body on my vacation." Kate commented dryly as she looked at the floor near the sill.

"Neither have I." She said with a grin, "But here we go anyway."

Jane knelt on the floor and peered into the shower room. There were two shower heads protruding from three of the walls, each had its own valve and only one of them was open. Water dripped out of the head and Jane looked to Davison.

"Did you shut of the main?" She asked.

"Yes Ma'am." He said, "After Specialist Hill went down. I didn't want anyone else going in there to shut it off."

Jane nodded as she ran her hand along the wall. It gripped but not hard. She dipped her hand in the water and ran it along the wall again, she felt almost no resistance.

"So aside from Hill," Kate said, "no one else has set foot inside the shower since the body was found?"

"That's right, Ma'am."

Jane glanced at Kate, "This ma'am crap is going to get old."

Kate nodded, "It's either Detective Rizzoli and Detective Beckett or just Rizzoli and Beckett."

"Yes, Ma'.. Um. Yes, Detective." He sputtered.

Kate laughed lightly before turning back to the task. She looked around at the walls and the floor again before she checked her watch. Almost eleven AM.

"Cleaning crew." Jane said.

Kate looked back, "When was the last time the shower was cleaned?"

Davison flipped through a pocket notebook, "Maintenance scrubbed this one down yesterday afternoon about fifteen hundred."

A look passed between them.

"This isn't an accident." Jane said quietly.

"No." Kate sighed, "It's a Homicide."

"You sure?" Davison asked, "What makes you say that."

"No other victims." Kate said, "It wasn't something that the cleaning crew did because it's been almost twenty four hours since they were in here. As long as you guys can go without taking a shower, generally speaking you don't typically synchronize 'no shower day' and most men have a tendency to bathe in the morning."

Jane chuckled at her friend and added. "The morning group of guys who ran through this shower didn't slip. Which means that whatever this stuff is, it wasn't here this morning."

"Look around, it's on every piece of the tile work." Kate said waving a hand at the shower. "That kind of buildup doesn't happen in an hour or two so whatever this stuff is, it was put in there. No attention was paid to it because it looks like soap scum."

"Plus the tile work goes around the rest of the bathroom as well." Jane added. "If it was something to do with the cleaners it should be all over the outside too. If it's in the water than why aren't the sink covered in it?"

"Has anyone checked the other showers?" Kate asked.

"Their clean." Davison said. "It was one of the first things I had done once the water was shut off."

"Then you have someone who deliberately coated this shower in some pretty slick stuff and they probably knew that it would do this." Kate knelt next to Jane again and looked at the body, "This is a bit excessive to be a prank."

"I don't think it is." Jane said. "What do you have on our vic?"

Davison reached for the wallet and Jane yelled at him, "Hey!"

All eyes turned to her as she stood up sharply and scowled at them.

"This is a _Crime Scene!_ Everybody in this room better get some gloves on right now before you touch anything else."

Kate got up next to her, "Any one not needed to investigate or tend the Specialist needs to get out now." She added.

Colin looked around and no one was moving, "Davison, Mitchum, Gloves on. All others, you heard the Detectives, clear the room."

There was some shuffling out the door and a medic started passing out surgical gloves. Davison slipped them on as did Colin before reaching for the wallet.

"Michigan Driver's license. Detroit Police Department Sergeant LeBron Ellis, 5th precinct. 37 years old."

"Sergeant, I need any info you can get for me." Kate said.

He nodded and wrote down the info before passing it on to a Marine Corporal who was standing just outside. "Pull all his info from Registrations and check with Reservations and Guest Services, find out what he was doing, his plans and itinerary."

The corporal nodded and took off.

He came back to Colin, "Next year I think we should have a CID presence just to be safe."

Kate glared at him.

"No offense Detective but the Army is the one staffing this event so they'd like to keep it in house."

Colin stopped him form saying anything more. "I trust these two more than I do anyone else. This is what they do for a living and they've been doing it for a long time now and you should remember that they don't actually have to be here, Sergeant."

Jane looked to her partner, "We've got to get in there to look at the body."

"Yep." She agreed.

"I'll get some planks brought in and we can bridge over the floor." Colin said, "You got an idea of what happened?"

Kate looked to Jane, "Before or after."

"Definitely after." Jane said and stood up.

Kate looked back at him. "We need to get a look at the vic's room first."

A few minutes later they were in the guest room of Sergeant Ellis. Gently they poked around the room, examining the various suitcases bedding and lockers.

"One man in this room," Jane said. "The other bed hasn't been slept in."

"And he still can't keep his underwear off the floor." Kate groaned as she used a pen to lift a set of BVDs off a t-shirt."

"You live alone." Jane scoffed, "Don't tell me that you don't leave them out once in a while."

Kate nodded, "Not three feet from the door to my room where anyone can see them."

She set the briefs down a foot away and picked up the grey shirt that held the silkscreen of a Detroit Police Badge. The armpits were still wet from perspiration.

"Right." Jane said as she dug through a small medicine bag, "I bet their always on the bathroom floor."

"When I wear underwear." She said deadpanned, "Most of the time I'm at home it's just sweats and a Tee. No Bra No panties."

Jane glanced at Davison who was standing by the door looking uncomfortable and trying not to look at Kate's rear as she knelt over the pants that accompanied the shirt.

Colin was unfazed at the banter as he pulled the blanket back on the bed and found the Sergeant's utility belt, holster and sidearm.

She secretly grinned at Davison's shifting stance, "I can go without a bra but pantyless?" Jane shook her head as she poked through the garbage can, "That just doesn't feel right." A quick glance at Davison again and then Colin.

"Colin" she said, "Is it different for a guy?"

He pulled the magazine out of the weapon and examined it. "It's rare for me to do it but there is some truth to what Kate's sayin'. For a guy it can feel very liberating to free-ball around the house, especially in sweats or night pants."

Jane put down the garbage can and started opening drawers on the small dresser. "PJ's are different then sweats. But flannel itches, cotton doesn't."

"Try satin or silk," Kate said as she dug into the pants pockets. "Nothing feels better against your skin than silk." She looked to Jane and their eyes met, "I have two sets of silk sheets. I love the way they glide over my body so much that whenever I'm not on call, I like to sleep in the nude between those sheets. It's like having your whole body caressed by the gentlest of hands."

Jane grinned wide and wiggled her eyebrows, "You wouldn't happen to have brought some with you that I could try?"

Colin hid his grin as Davison was beginning to turn red from embarrassment. Colin chose to be merciful, "I need an ammo case here with evidence seals."

Davison didn't even acknowledge him before rushing off to get one.

They looked at each other and Jane burst out laughing, Kate fell backwards in her amusement as Colin plopped down onto the bed.

"Caressed by the gentlest of hands?" Jane said, "God, did you read that in a sex novel or something?"

"It just came to me." She said from the floor. "I don't know where it came from but there it was."

"I don't know," Colin said, "I thought the sleeping in the nip between the sheets is what did him in."

"You should have heard my next line." Kate said, "I was going to offer to share."

"Oh, god." Jane said as she almost dropped her head in her palms but stopped herself at seeing the blue gloves, "What is it about me that everyone thinks I'm gay?"

"Not everyone does," Colin said, "Kate knows you're straight and so do I."

"I swear that Liv is trying to seduce me every time we get drunk."

"That's because she is." Kate chuckled, "Though she really doesn't mean too."

"Oh I know." She said gruffly as she dug through the drawers. "I'm the Anti-Alex."

Colin grinned at Kate just then and Kate wasn't sure she liked it. He knew something she didn't about Jane and Olivia. She was going to have to look into it when her partner wasn't around.

"Okay, so this outfit was worn recently." Kate held up the shirt. "It's not all that hot out today so whatever he was doing was pretty physical."

Jane held up a pamphlet of the games. "He circled a few of the events around post. Seems he wanted to try out something called the Gauntlet, the Shootout, and Skid Row. He marked off a few others but these three were circled more than once."

As Davison came back with the ammo box Colin nodded and un-holstered the nine millimeter Springfield. "Skid Row is a high speed obstacle course, for a patrol cop it really is a must. Its purpose is to teach you how to perform and control your car through tight areas at higher speeds. Our course is way better than the one you ladies went through at your academies."

"Damn, I want to go now." Jane said. "I love that pursuit training."

He took the ammo box and placed the pistol, all the magazines he could find, as well as the officers badge and ID inside. He continued loading the things that his department would want secured into the box as he continued, "The gauntlet is that old shooting test that cops used to take, where you walk down the street and the cardboard targets pop up and you try not to shoot the Civilians. The Shoot Out is the same kind of thing except you stand in front of the building and they just pop up. We got the inspiration from that old Nintendo game Hogan's Alley. We like the real thing here."

"Sounds like things a Patrol Cop might actually use, I hear Detroit can be pretty rough in some places."

"No more than any other Major metropolitan department." Colin said, "I'm sure both of you have places in your cities where you don't go alone." He placed the security seal on the box and passed it to Davison, "Lock that in the Provost Cage."

He nodded. "So you feel confident enough to tell me what you're thinking?"

Kate looked to Jane, "You did say after."

"I'm thinking that Ellis was out at one of the events, he got sweaty and came back here for a shower. He gets undressed, puts on his shower shoes and heads to the bathroom."

Kate nodded, "He sets the wallet and the shave kit down at the sink and goes in to the shower and turns on the water. Since he's in his robe he avoids the water and comes back out."

"Right," Jane said, "I didn't see any shavings in the sink so let's assume either he hadn't gotten there or shaving wasn't on the day's list. So he disrobes and steps into the shower. One foot into the water and he slips, hard."

"Bangs his head on the wall and falls to the floor." Kate agreed.

"But he's in the middle of the shower room." Colin countered, "More than three feet away from the wall."

"That's where that slick stuff comes in again" Jane said.

"He cracks his head on the wall and falls to the floor and skidded out to the middle." Kate sighed.

Colin nodded, "And the running water, helps wash away the blood trail from the wall to the body. But the floor is slick all over The water doesn't run that far out from the head."

"Nope," Kate said, "But hot water does steam the bathroom."

"Fogged mirror after a shower." He said. "Condensation would fog the tiles it in the shower room."

"It's a homicide." Jane said, "Maybe negligent but it doesn't feel like that."

"No it doesn't. That much of the substance says the suspect wasn't sure where Ellis was going to stand, which shower head he would use." Kate shook her head, "It's on the walls too so he didn't want Ellis to catch himself."

"It's a murder," Jane said, "Plain and simple set up for murder."

"So now what?" Colin asked, "I got more experience taking lives than I do trying to find out why one was taken."

"First is that we have to collect evidence and interview suspects so we can determine who had a motive to kill Ellis and who had opportunity to seed the shower."

"What kind of a motive could you have here?" Colin asked.

"Possible motives for murder are, to profit in some way, to act in jealousy, to prevent or conceal a crime, to avoid humiliation or disgrace, to exact revenge, or because of mental instability or impairment." Jane said without looking up, "Or Homicidal-mania."

"Right out of the book." Kate said.

"You read The General's Daughter?" Jane asked with a smirk.

"No, did you?" Kate replied straight faced.

"I think I saw the movie once." She said jokingly, "Other motives are power, control, mission oriented murder, visionary murders where the killer thinks like he's a savior or judge, and hedonistic killers that murder for lust, comfort, or just for kicks."

"That's a profiling for serial killers." Kate said, "With one body, I don't think we're at that point."

"Actually there is something else." Colin said.

Kate looked at him, "You have more than one?"

Jane stared too.

"No." he said "but there have been other incidents this year. Now I'm starting to wonder if there related."

He glanced at his watch, "Guess you better get to doin' your thing with the vic before the County Coroner shows up with the State police."

"No faith in Illinois?" Kate joked.

He shook his head with a serious frown, "No faith that I'll be kept in the loop."


	8. Chapter 8

_**Sorry about the delay but internet signal on the road has been virtually non existant. So I'm sending two out tonight and possibly one more tomorrow, if I don't haven't finished the third chapter to be posted by then I'll post a special for you. An in between story that introduces some key players for Burn. It's only going to be about 6 chapters and I have two done and working the third.**_

_**I'd like to thank my friend Zarosguth for becoming my beta, he's been following my stories since the first post. Appreciate your help, send me stuff and I'll do the same. Any remaining mistakes are mine and mine alone.**_

* * *

><p>After calling the State Police, Colin had been forced to leave in response to a fight on post leaving Kate and Jane on stood on a pair of two by ten planks of wood as they examined the body of LeBron Ellis. Both women were so engrossed at recreating what had happened to him that neither noticed the plain clothes Inspector Richard Rollins from the Illinois State Police show up. A Marine guard quickly briefed him on the discovery of the body and the Inspector took issue once he was lead into the bathhouse and found two women hunched over the body.<p>

"Excuse me!" He said with authority, "This area is a crime scene. You need to leave now."

Jane looked back at him with a glare, "Take it easy there, Andy Griffith. We're Homicide."

He bristled, "From what department?" He glared, hoping they were at least from Springfield or the County Sherriff's Office, but no such luck.

Kate looked back, "She's Boston PD and I'm NYPD." She looked back at the body, then to the wall and pointed, "He tried to catch himself there."

Jane nodded, "Nothing to grab onto so down he went."

The Inspector stepped towards them then and Kate held up a hand, "DON'T!" She shouted.

He hesitated before continuing. "This isn't New York or Boston."

Jane glared, "If you take one step inside this room, you endanger all of us."

He stopped, "Why?"

"The tile work has some kind of lubricant on it and it's very slick." Kate answered, "That's what killed him."

"Almost took out the posts head medic earlier." Jane added. "That's why we're standing on planks of wood with nails in them."

"Well that's really nice of you but you're out of your jurisdiction by about a thousand miles." He growled, "So I'd appreciate if you'd get the hell out of my crime scene."

"Here we go," Kate muttered. She looked at her partner.

Jane straightened, "You a Homicide Detective?"

"Criminal Investigations, Illinois State Police." He said.

Jane rolled her eyes and turned away, "Oh boy."

"How many Homicides have you closed?" Kate asked him.

"Look, ladies. I know you both work for big time cities but this is Illinois, I'm under no obligation to compare experiences."

Kate looked at Jane, "That means very few."

"If any," Jane said and turned back to him, "I think you're making a mistake. We were asked to investigate by the Provost Marshall because of our experience."

"You'd be pretty foolish to throw that away." Kate added.

"The Provost Marshall?" He said incredulously, "Fort Justice is not a military installation. It's private property and with all due respect. I don't need a couple of weekend Detectives telling me how to run my investigation, particularly when they'll be on their way back to wherever they came from next week."

"Ah, arrogant and pig headed at the same time." Jane said, "How efficient of you."

Kate looked down at her watch. "It's ok Jane. We've got everything we need out of here. We'd better get back to the CQB."

She nodded and her voice was filled with distain, "Yep. I guess we should leave it to the professional now." She stood up and walked along the plank and stood before the inspector. "The Provost Marshall knows how to contact us."

Kate followed her out. "Have a nice day." They peeled the surgical gloves off and dropped them in a bucket by the door as they headed out.

He shook his head. _Big City Cops who think they know everything._ He turned back to the body and eased across the plank.

* * *

><p><strong>CQB Round 4, NYB Taskforce<strong>

They stood at the door awaiting the entry buzzer. As usual they were the last team running the CQB today. Standing on either side of the door, they stared at each other. Both had put the task of tracking down who ever had killed Sergeant Ellis out of their minds as they stood ready to take on Colin's latest bag of surprises.

Jane clenched her fist tightly and released it again. Some minor relief flooded her hand as Kate pointed her gun at the ground two handed. Adrenalin surged through them as they waited.

As customary with Jane being left handed, she was on the door since it swung in from the right allowing Kate's weapon to enter first. Since they often switched positions during the scenarios it wasn't an issue with Jane.

She leveled a hand as the overhead light started blinking. Five seconds to go.

The buzzer sounded and Jane grabbed the door and twisted the knob, shoving in with her elbow. Kate swung in and immediately backed out as red paint soared through the door.

She came back so fast she hit the wall and fell on her ass. Jane stared.

"That's new." She said as she swung her arm in and popped off two paint rounds into the dark.

Kate flopped down on her belly and eased into position. With a nod Jane swung her arm in again and fired. More paint flew back but the light muzzle flash gave her an idea about the drone's location. She aimed and fired and the paint stopped.

She eased up from the ground and ducked inside, Jane right behind her.

_There's the surprise,_ she passed to Kate with a glance.

Kate blinked at her, _too easy. Keep your guard up._

Colin watched from the control room as they navigated the hallway to the warehouse. Cleaning out and securing each room. Officially, he was rooting for his creation but inside he was rooting for his friends.

Jane eased into an empty room at the end of the hall and stopped. She looked around as Kate came up behind her.

_What,_ she sent.

"An empty room," she said and passed a look at her partner, _there's no reason for an empty room._

Kate nodded and they checked it out thoroughly. They looked at each other and took positions near the door and headed towards the massive simulated freight warehouse. They eased out slowly.

In the control room Griggs looked at Colin who nodded while he watched the monitors.

"Here we go." He said as he flipped a switch. "Silent Tom is up."

Colin held his breath as he watched the new drone ease down to the floor with no sound. It ran on a hydraulic gimbal that descended from the ceiling and it was so quiet that it had been sneaking up on contestants all day.

Kate looked around the warehouse from the hallway, trying to hear over the slight hiss of a loose air fitting somewhere. Unlike before, there was virtually no fog, visibility was good and she couldn't see any drones. She eased up to the edge of the room and noted that Jane hadn't moved.

She was about to turn to her partner when Jane slammed into her, shoving them both out into the warehouse as gunfire erupted from the hallway, splattering paint right where they had been standing. Jane continued to push Kate but she raised her arm up behind her and fired. Green paint smeared Silent Tom and it stopped. Two drones emerged from crates nearby and Kate popped off two rounds and hit both in the face. One went down the other one didn't. Jane saw it and fired, again it was shot in the face but it didn't stop. They looked at each other in disbelief.

"What the hell?" Colin said to the monitor, "They got it, twice, shut it down manually."

Griggs typed into his keyboard but froze when the drone opened fire.

Jane watched the drone roll towards them and her gut twisted tightly. Her bad feeling intensified as the drone closed. Acting purely on instinct, she grabbed Kate's collar and dove away from the crate, yanking her partner off her feet right before the crate was shredded into splinters. Kate's eyes went wide as both women regained their footing and ran for the door. More shots fired and the false wall they were next to was stitched with bullet holes. They veered away. The drone didn't want them going for the door.

"LIVE ROUNDS!" Jane screamed at the top of her lungs, "LIVE ROUNDS, SHUT IT DOWN!"

Kate dove over two crates with Jane right behind her and the area was peppered with gunfire.

"EMERGENCY STOP!" Colin hollered.

"It's not shutting down!" Griggs yelled.

Colin blasted through the door to the control room and ran as fast as he could around the CQB hangar pulling his 45 in process. He kicked the door open and ran head first through the L shaped hallway.

He roared out a battle cry as he entered the warehouse. The drone twisted on the treads and fired at him, almost wildly.

Colin leaped over the crate and fired in mid-air as he saw Kate and Jane dive behind the sea container. Jane fired a tight group of paint into the drone causing it to return fire. Sparks flew off the sea container as bullets ricocheted off it.

He landed in a combat roll and fired again, aiming for the chest plate that protected the Drone's CPU from paint rounds. Two rounds bounced off the shoulder joint. The third hit but it didn't penetrate. The drone made for him, spraying rounds only when it had a clear shot as if it knew that it couldn't be hurt.

Kate popped up from the sea container and hit the drone again. It spun and fired. Colin targeted the back plate for the battery case and let loose before running for more cover. His 45 spent he dropped the mag and reloaded a fresh one before he combat rolled through a false wall and into an office.

"That's it, lad," he said out loud to himself, "Confuse the bastard." He said as he ran out of the room. He slammed a shoulder into another wall and crashed through behind the warehouse edge wall. He looked up to see Jane stepping lightly along an overhead catwalk; her pistol was out with no magazine in it and the slide open. He pulled a mag out of his vest for his nineteen and held it up. She saw it and nodded while holding a finger over her mouth.

Gunfire erupted and the false wall behind him was stitched. He slammed a shoulder into the wall intent on knocking it over when he heard other drones activate. They came out simultaneously and each started spraying their paint rounds at the renegade.

"That's it Griggs!" He shouted, "Pour it on, lad!" He ran along the wall and pulled his knife to loosen a hinge pin. Once out he shoved and made a gap big enough for him to pass through. He ran towards the sea container and tossed the magazine in his hand straight up. Jane caught it easily and slid it in place.

"Not yet!" He shouted as more gunfire bounced around him. Several of the drones were between him and the renegade taking the hits. Griggs had them running cover. He rounded the sea container to see Kate on a crate.

"Mag," She said.

He tossed it up to her and he climbed up, "You got a plan?"

"Shoot the red one till it stops moving." She said as she slapped the extended magazine in place.

He shouted to the ceiling, "Aim for between the shoulder and chest plate. That's where the computer is!"

"Waiting on Jane," She said as he rolled onto the container.

He looked up and Jane wasn't there. She was on the far side of the room almost over top of it. She nodded to Kate.

"Crazy bitch says fire when ready." She said smartly.

Colin rose up and let loose the forty five. She too fired a barrage of fire. Fifteen .45s and twenty 9mm bullets tore into the arm pit of the drone. It swung away from the other drones it had been tearing apart and opened fire before going quiet. He watched as the guns automatically switched the custom built magazines and as it did so, Jane dropped from the ceiling on an electrical cable she had cut loose. She fell damn near on top of it and shoved the gun into the damaged pit area and emptied her magazine into the area at varying angles. The drone turned sharply and froze before firing a single shot and finally going quiet.

Jane held on tight not trusting that it was done. Her breathing was ragged and her hands hurt but she held on even though her gun was empty.

Her fearful face told him that she wasn't going to let go.

"Cut the wire plug at the base of the skull." He said loudly.

Jane didn't hesitate. She pulled a knife and ripped the wires out as fast as she could.

"It's done, Jane." He said, "You can let go now."

"Fuck you, Colin." She shouted indignantly. "When you can stand in front of it, I'll let go."

He laughed and jumped down. He walked up casually and stepped up onto the drone's tread.

Pulling a flashlight he shined it at the drones arm pit and found a black heavy plastic weave stuffed inside. He fingered it lightly.

"Kevlar," He said heavily and looked up at her, "Damn thing has a goddamn Kevlar vest stuffed into the computer box." He jumped down and stood at the back.

"Lift your foot." He said and she did, he opened a panel and yanked out a large black switch. "Battery connector," He said, "It's got no power so it ain't playin' possum."

She glared at him. "And the wires you had me cut?"

He held a hand up to her. "Motion sensors, mics, and cameras are in the head. You made sure it couldn't track you as you ran if it was playing dumb."

She took it and allowed him to help her down. Kate came up to her and yanked her into a hug.

Jane was stunned, not being a hugger she wanted to push her away but she had just done the scariest thing she ever thought of. So she embraced her then shoved her back. Kate didn't let go.

"You fucking crazy bitch." Kate said over Jane's shoulder. "You could have gotten yourself killed."

"Hey," she said, "I'm still here aren't I?"

Kate backed up and looked at her. It was false bravado and they both knew it.

"What the hell were you thinking, Jane?" She shouted.

Jane stared at her as if Kate had lost her mind. "That my partner's life was in danger and I had to do something. My life for my partner's, remember?"

Colin stared at her, "I thought that was some bullshit line that you were runnin' to defend Kate the Human Cannonball over here."

Jane's nerves had settled down and her wits had returned too, "Well now you know that I mean it." She looked at Kate, "My life for my partner's, with no regrets."

She hobbled toward the hallway and Kate grabbed her.

Jane looked over at the younger woman, "Help me out? I twisted my ankle on that landing."

Kate nodded as she pulled Jane's arm over her shoulder and grasped her pistol belt.

As they moved toward the door, Colin stared in disbelief as Kate helped Jane down the hallway towards the front door. The camaraderie that he had seen between them had now been tested by battle and had been made strong. He doubted anything could come between them now. Before they exited the building he heard a raspy voice echo down the hall.

"And who are you calling a crazy bitch?"

* * *

><p>Building 283 – 1830 hours<p>

Olivia and Elliot came back to the Hangar to find Kate and Jane hunched over the bar which was covered by stacks of files. Each had a stack of papers in hand and was making notes on legal pads as they perused. Jane was resting one foot on a stool that was wrapped in an ice pack and Kate was keeping an eye on her partner as they sorted, read, and restacked paperwork.

"I brought a little morphine for the pain." Liv said as she pulled a cold Boston Lager out of a case and handed it to Jane.

She grinned and she popped the top and took a healthy swig, "Mmm. Now that is a good beer."

Liv nodded, "They always do taste better after the adrenalin wears off." She looked at the Italian, "So how are you really?"

"Bitchy and sarcastic as ever," Kate grumbled, "I swear the only way to stop her mouth is to kill her cause you can't kill her spirit."

Jane snorted, "I'm from Boston. We're a tough breed."

"Those winters you guys have, I can see where the ice water in your veins comes from." Liv said with a laugh. She looked around the bar and shook her head, "What's with the homework?"

"Jeez," Elliot waved a hand at the papers spread out everywhere, "It's starting to look like my desk in here."

Kate didn't bother to look up, "Got a DB today and Colin doesn't think ISP will keep him in formed."

"So we're running our own investigation." Jane added. "Not that ISP would appreciate it."

Liv shook her head, "I thought you two were supposed to take it easy." She pushed a stack over and set down a takeout bag of food and pulled a beer for Beckett. "Colin said you repelled from the ceiling onto the drone."

Kate straightened and retrieved her beer before sitting gently. "She's either the bravest woman I know or the craziest, I can't figure it out."

Jane reached to a stack of files and opened the top one. "On to the case, Sergeant Ellis from Detroit PD slipped and fell in the shower room. The walls and floor were coated with something we're loosely calling a lubricant. Looks like soap scum but once wet is some really slick shit."

Kate tossed a stack down, "Found out that he was involved with a few of the games. Colin told us about a breakfast that was poisoned and a woman who got her underwear hosed in mace. The six man team from Dallas was poisoned yesterday. The woman was attacked on the second day of the games."

"Now with our own attack," Jane groaned, "we're searching through the game registrations to find a few suspects who might have been involved with the same games."

"What we hadn't counted on was the massive amount of people who play these games plus we also have all of Reservations' information, and a complete run down of all activities on post. So we're having a hell of a time trying to sort it all."

Liv passed out containers of Chinese food and pulled up a stool. Elliot retrieved beers for them and sat down after clearing a small space to work with.

"Give us some specs on what we're looking for and we'll get this mess cleaned up before last call." Liv said with a clear tone of authority.

"But remember that we're SVU, so we look for different kinds of leads." El added.

Jane glanced at Kate as she started to lay out the theory to her friends.

Liv stared at Jane, amazed at how effective she was at reading a situation. She watched in complete awe as she and Kate worked right through the case, bouncing off each other as if they had always been partners. As if they were like her and Elliot. Truly it was a shame that they weren't partners for real.

Elliot looked at a page as he chowed down on the sweet and sour chicken. "It's a good theory. But what's the motive, to affect the outcome of the games? It's not the Olympics or the Superbowl."

"It has to be personal," Kate said and received a nod from Jane, "Like you said: this isn't some major sporting event. It's bragging rights for cops."

"The sin of pride," Jane said quietly.

Liv caught the tone and her mind drifted back to two nights ago. Finding Jane lost and curled up in the shower under frigid water. She had made sure that no one was in the hangar the next morning in case Jane wanted to talk but she hadn't. She just groaned about oversleeping and disappointing her partner. Liv hadn't asked about the episode because she honestly doubted if Jane remembered it. But it's not pride, Jane. And loving Maura isn't a sin. She did not know Jane well enough to have that conversation.

"Have you told Colin your theory?" Liv asked Jane more to shake the black haired beauty out of her thoughts.

"He's out helping one of the victims move into new quarters." She said. "Ostrowski didn't feel comfortable in the barracks so he moved her to the officers bungalows, next to a friend of hers named Abby Ward."

Elliot stifled as grin and Liv rolled her eyes. Kate shook her head as she poked through documents and forked through some rice.

"What?" Jane asked.

Liv couldn't help it. "Abby Ward is the reason for the no guest rule in the house."

Kate grumbled something about loud and kept working.

Jane looked around, "Okay, new girl is confused and needs a critical update."

Elliot stabbed a piece of chicken and passed it to his partner. "She's loud."

"Loud." Jane said in a confused voice.

Kate dropped her chopsticks in the carton and looked at her partner. "Yes. She's loud."

Confusion plainly evident she looked to her partner then Elliot and then to Liv.

Liv wiped her mouth and explained. "Last year, Colin brought Abby back here. She spent the night in Colin's loft where they had sex."

"A lot of sex," Elliot added. "And she's loud."

Jane's eyes went wide. "I take it that it disrupted the house?"

"You could say that." Kate growled. "Abby's a nice person but comes off too tough and very quiet."

"Until you get her clothes off and then she's very vocal." Liv said, "As hammered as we were, no one got much in the way of sleep that night."

"The next day," Elliot continued, "We had a vote before they got up and it was agreed in fifteen seconds that no more guests come back to the house during LETO."

Jane leaned back and adjusted her ice pack. "How did Colin take it?"

"Embarrassingly," Kate said with a smirk "I know he doesn't act like it but he's rather bashful when it comes to sex."

"He was more embarrassed by Abby than anyone else." Elliot added. "But that didn't stop him from laying her all friggin' night long."

"He's the reason she moved to officers bungalows." Liv said, "They keep in touch and hook up a couple times a year."

Jane shook her head with a grin and looked around, "Wow. He wasn't kidding when he said no one wants a repeat of last year."

"Nope," Liv said, "He wasn't."

* * *

><p><strong>Jane's Room<strong>

Liv gently worked the blood back into Jane's hands as she sat on her couch with a pillow propped under her foot, her hands expertly removing the pain that had built up the last few days. Liv hadn't said much over the last day or two and Jane was beginning to get a bit concerned.

She sighed audibly as Liv's fingers pushed against her skin. She tried to keep an image of Maura in her head but after the dream she had a few nights ago, she wasn't sure that she trusted her body. Good old fashioned catholic guilt filled her at the thought of that dream and she promptly shoved it out of her mind. What was so wrong with her that she couldn't control her own mind and body?

_"Your very tense, Jane."_ Liv said in Italian_ "Are you alright?"_

_"Just had a long, dangerous day,"_ She replied,_ "I go on vacation and get sucked right back into a murder case."_

_"With a side of running for your life,"_ Liv added.

"Hey, I don't run." She scoffed as she changed out hands, "I might withdraw but I never run."

She shook her head and laughed, "Okay there, Super Jane. No reason to get techy."

She chuckled as Liv worked out the last few spots in her hand and was surprised when the older woman didn't let go.

Liv gently stroked Jane's slender hands careful to go around the two scars. She wanted to ask but she wouldn't. It was what they did here.

Jane watched as Liv stared at them. Her eyes were not judgmental, merely curious and she felt her armor cracking open a bit more.

She pulled her hand out of Liv's causing the older woman to look up. Jane could see the question but she also saw the determination not to ask. With her recent episode she felt that she should at least say something if for no other reason than to relieve the pressure building inside her. Liv had been true to her word and hadn't asked or judged or anything else that would make Jane question her.

So she let out another piece, "A serial killer got the drop on me and stabbed me through both hands. My partner took him down and now he's in prison."

Liv stared at her then nodded. "It's a dangerous line of work you have."

Jane shook her head, "I couldn't do what you do for a living."

She stood up and sat down next to her. Jane had opened up a bit and confided in her, she felt that she should do the same.

"I do this because I was a child born from rape." Liv said.

Jane snapped her head around her eyes meeting Liv's again.

"She kept me and it was a hard way to grow up. I guess you could say that I have some issues with it and that's why I work in the SVU, bringing down scum bags like my biological father."

Jane rested a hand on her friends, "I guess we all carry scars."

Liv patted Jane's hand, "Yes. We do."

"I've seen Colin's." She said softly. "I know Kate has some, too."

"Elliot is no different." Liv said, "Though he's not likely to say anything; Male ego of dealing with your own issues."

"I can understand that." Jane said knowingly.

Liv smiled and squeezed her hand, "I imagine you can. That's part of what makes us who we are. The women in this house are strong and independent. The men are tough and resilient and we blend well. Mostly because we understand each other and each of us carries our own scars. Some you can see like you, Colin, and El. Some you can't like me and Kate."

"I guess that's why I feel so at home here." Jane said with a light smile.

"I knew that when I met you." Liv said, "You're one of us, Jane and we'll always welcome you. No matter what burdens you, you can let it go here with no judgment, no condemnation and no pity."

Jane stared at her._ Does she know?_ The thought sent a shiver down her spine.

She didn't want anyone to see how damaged she had been from Hoyt. It was bad enough that Maura saw a part of it. Regardless of what Olivia said, Jane would not show weakness. She couldn't.

Liv saw the thought in Jane and knew that the Italian was going to need time to let go, just like she would need time to come to terms with herself and her sexuality. She knew Jane's type very well, stubborn and hard headed. Jane would go through this in her own way and it would be painful, both in her PTSD and her awakening. All Liv could do was be her friend should Jane need it.

She patted Jane's hand again and said goodnight before heading to her own room. Once she locked herself away, she dug out her phone and looked up Dr. Maura Isles on the internet. She found a blonde woman Jane's age and she was beautiful. Liv could easily see the attraction. She found the Doctor's email and logged on to the PTSD site that had helped both her and Stabler. She knew that Jane wouldn't accept Liv's help but maybe she'd take Maura's.

From the site, she sent Dr. Isles a link so that the doctor could find her friend some help. In the subject column she typed in a note that should get Maura's attention. The email sent, she shut down her browser and lay down for bed. She hoped Maura would do the right thing for her friend. It was a needless worry.

* * *

><p><strong>Home of Dr. Isles<strong>

Maura heard the chime from the laptop indicating an email. The sender was anonymous and Maura would have deleted it but for the words that glowed on the screen.

**She won't admit it but she needs this. Maura, please take care of her.**

She opened the email and clicked on the link. It was a list of Doctors who specialized in PTSD. Highlighted was contact info for the ones around the Boston area with several more just inside Rhode Island and Connecticut. The ones there were labeled discreet.

Maura put a hand to her mouth as she realized that the person sending this meant for her to help Jane. She immediately typed in a response and emailed it back. It was returned a few minutes later tagged "no reply mail". Who could have sent it to her?

It puzzled her but she knew better than to ask Jane. She was too private about things like this. So Maura quickly made a plan to get her new friend this information.


	9. Chapter 9

_**Second Post but as I read it after the initial posting, I think I want to expand a bit on the chase. I'll say something in the notes on my next post.**_

* * *

><p><strong>CQB Pavilion, 1030 Hours<strong>

Colin looked at the last four competing teams in the CQB. LAPD Homicide and Miami Narcotics were dressed to enter but NYB and SVU were dressed casually because they knew that Colin wasn't going to open the simulator today.

He sat down on a table and shook his head, "I'm sorry to report that there was an accident yesterday involving the NYB Task force team."

Crews looked up from munching on a mango, "What kind of accident?"

"Live rounds were loaded into a drone and its hit registers were damaged." He said, "That means that no matter how many paint shots the drone took, it wouldn't shut down."

Reese looked over at NYB, "Are you girls alright?"

Jane nodded, "Sergeant O'Malley came in and brought live rounds with him and we were able to stop the drone."

"Rizzoli twisted her ankle slightly but other than that, no injuries." Kate added.

"So the CQB will remain closed today and tomorrow so we can make repairs and examine every round inside." Colin looked at all of them as he said the next words, "Also, we will be going over the video feeds from the day and see if we can figure out how live rounds got into the system."

Mateo Reyes from Miami PD shook his head, "I thought that live rounds couldn't be fired from the drones."

"The drones are not built for it. They lack the rifling for accuracy over distance." Colin said, "They were made like that to give enough room for human error. Since machines are pretty damn precise, we engineered them with a few flaws."

His partner, Marco Vargas looked up at him, "You said that you have security procedures to keep the games integrity. How do live rounds get mixed in to the paint rounds?"

"They can't," Colin stood up. "The rounds for the CQB drones are manufactured at the plant and kept separate so that this kind of thing can't happen. The cases are stenciled CQB and verified upon arrival. Since we don't receive ammunition from the base armory or any of the vendors, that's where we're having an issue. This single drone was loaded with six magazines of compatible live rounds. Thus far we haven't found even a single live round in here since we started searching last night."

"Someone loaded that drone and disabled the sensors," Crews said, "You believe someone was trying to take out NYB."

"That's our theory." Colin said, "We're suspending the CQB for two days. That's how long it will take the engineers to repair the damage and go through every drone looking for tampering."

"A wise decision," Crews confirmed.

Reese nodded, "Anything we can do?"

"Actually there is." Colin said, "NYB didn't get to finish the round. Since this is the first year of the CQB, we don't have a protocol for this kind of thing. I'd like your input as to how to fairly correct this."

Reyes looked at the two women, "When the CQB is up again, have them re run the course."

Jane shook her head, "We know about Silent tom and we'd be ready for him."

"We also know the positions of at least half of the drones in the freight area since they came to our rescue during the fight." Kate added.

"It's an unfair advantage to have them re run the same course." Colin sat down on the table again. "I have three options but you three teams are the ones who will have to make the choice."

"Let's hear 'em." Vargas said.

"Option one. We give NYB an average score based on their performance in the first three rounds. The problem is that their score is high enough to eliminate LAPD and Miami."

"I don't like that option," Reyas said.

"Option two. NYB runs an entirely different course from the one you did and their score is rated as normal. Eliminations would be gauged on that."

"But that goes against your integrity statement." Crews said, "So what's option three?"

Colin sighed, "Option three is that we declare the CQB round four invalid and everyone goes through a new course."

"We ran our assed off in there yesterday." Reyas groaned. "I got shot in the back of the head."

"Yes but think about it this way," Reese quipped, "It's a chance to improve your score."

"Not many would be able to say that," Crews added. "I'm good with option three." He looked at Rizzoli, "They're a good team and they deserve the opportunity the universe is providing them."

Reese chuckled and shook her head, "I'm not as Zen as my partner but they are good and I'd like to see this through."

Liv nodded, "Option three."

Stabler grinned. "Option three; Beckett and Rizzoli deserve it."

Kate scoffed, "You just want to go again. Admit it."

"Yep, he said, "that too."

Colin looked over to Miami, "You got the final votes, I'd like it to be unanimous and we'll use this as the new protocol should something get messed up again."

Vargas looked at Reyes and nodded. Reyes sighed, "Option three it is." He looked over to Rizzoli, "Take care of that ankle,_ Chica_. I'd hate to beat you over a limp."

Rizzoli grinned wide, showing off her dimples, "Keep talking, _Vecchio_. (Old Man in Italian) I'll put this limp right up your ass."

"Did she just call me an old fart?" Reyes said to his partner.

Vargas laughed, "No but I think she said she's gonna put something up your _culo_."

"Two days baby," Reyes shouted and blew her a kiss, "and we'll see who's got the bigger _huevos_."

Miami got up and walked off.

Crews chuckled warmly and stood up, "I think he's in love."

Jane groaned, "Your partner has a better chance than that guy."

Liv elbowed Stabler in the ribs.

Reese looked at Rizzoli from head to toe, "Cute as you are, I don't play on your team."

Jane looked back at her, "Neither do I."

She laughed then, "Okay that's just wrong."

The Italian smiled, "I'm Jane Rizzoli and this is my partner Kate Beckett."

She smiled, "Dani Reese."

Her partner smiled that little smile of his, "Charlie Crews."

Kate indicated the SVU team, "Our friends, Elliot Stabler and Olivia Benson."

"Nice to meet you," Crews said. "So, since no one is going to the CQB today anyone up for some lunch?"

Elliot nodded, "To the Shield, I hear burgers and beer calling us."

Liv shook her head, "Why did I bring you?"

Kate glared at Liv, "I asked you that four years ago."

"Sadly enough, I can't join you." Colin said, "I have to head inside and supervise the repairs but maybe someone could bring something back on the way."

"I got it Colin." Kate said. "I'll bring you back the usual."

"You're a sweetheart, I don't care what Jane says about you." He said with a grin as he headed back to the CQB.

Jane flipped him off and he laughed.

**Building 283**

Kate and Jane returned to the hangar late in the evening to find Liv and Elliot poring over the files again. Jane shook her head as she reviewed the notes she had made interviewing the list of suspects they had compiled last night.

True to their word, Liv and Elliot had helped them finish up around 1:30 in the morning but no one was interested in heading to the Shield. So they had exchanged conversation over a beer and headed off to bed. Jane hadn't slept well that night, mostly due to her ankle. Now her lack of sleep was becoming evident as she flopped down onto a stool and sighed.

Liv looked up over a sheet of paper, "How's that ankle doing?"

"The ankle is a pain," Jane said as Kate passed her a beer from the fridge. "The suspects are worse."

Kate sat next to her partner, "We interviewed twenty-two people today and came up with nothing."

"Half of them were dicks that just figured we're trying to cause trouble." Jane added.

Kate blew a huff of air and sipped at her beer, "We're looking for someone who killed a cop. You'd think some cooperation would be in order."

"We got almost the same thing and nothing really stood out." Liv said.

Elliot rubbed his face with both hands, "We just finished the alibi sheets. Good thing Colin has event check-ins."

"Yeah," Jane said and tossed her notepad down, "I'll check ours in a minute."

El picked up the pad and another sheet of paper and started making check marks. Liv tilted her head to stretch her neck and Jane heard a loud pop. Liv sighed audibly and straightened her head.

"I've been waiting for that all day." She said.

Elliot picked up his beer and found it empty. He glared at Liv.

"What?" She snipped at him.

"You know what?" he said, "You drank it, you replace it."

"I didn't drink it!" she scoffed.

He glared again. "Just like you didn't polish off the rice last night?"

She shook her head, "You had the rice carton, not me." She got up and pulled a beer out of the fridge and handed it to him.

"That's never stopped you before." He said, "I really don't know how you do it," He ran his eyes down her muscular body before meeting her eyes again, "Or where you keep it."

He cracked his beer, took a sip and placed it on the opposite side of the bar from her. He shook his head and returned to checking the list.

Jane looked over at Kate and saw the slight grin on her face. She looked at Liv who was staring at a sheet of paper but her eyes were not moving. Jane caught the tension around the older woman's mouth; she was trying not to smile.

Jane watched with interest, her fatigue gone. After a few minutes of looking occupied, Jane watched Stabler sip at his beer and put it down next to Liv.

Out of the corner of her eye, she caught Kate raise the file up slightly to cover her grin. In front of her Liv took a large gulp of beer from Stabler's bottle and silently put it back exactly where it was. It was subtle.

Jane watched Liv pass a look to Kate.

Kate schooled her face and dropped the file. "This is ridiculous. Who the hell offs a cop at a cop party?"

Elliot looked up. "My guess would be a fed but that's because I don't like feds."

He reached for his beer and sipped at it again.

"Jane spoke in a cool voice, "How many others have something to do with the Games?"

Kate looked at her oddly, "You still think this has something to do with the games."

"Yeah." she said, "I do. It keeps nagging at me."

Liv shook her head as she put Elliot's beer down again. "Jane we've went through the list. Not one person has anything in common with all four games."

"Okay forget about our game," Jane said. "Without the CQB do we have any other connections?"

Liv picked up three different sheets of paper and ran down the lists. She checked off names and made notes. After a minute she set down the sheets.

"Nothing that we haven't already covered," Liv said. "No additional people."

Jane looked at the stack of papers again and Kate watched her partner get distant with thought. Jane's eyes widened, "Teams."

Jane stood up and started digging through the paper on the table, "Liv, could you hand me those lists you just checked?"

Kate looked at her partner, "You've got something."

Elliot looked up, Jane was tearing through a file and she suddenly stopped and pulled out a new sheet. Liv handed her their lists and Jane took the CQB roster and laid them all out on the bar. She grabbed a note book and started running through the lists again.

"Um," Stabler said. "Mind sharing with the group?"

Jane huffed as she made a note, "Most departments send partners, not individuals, almost everyone here has a partner with a few exceptions like myself, Kate and a hand full of others."

She flipped back to the CQB roster and circled a name of partners. She then compared them with the game rosters for each incident.

Kate caught on and stepped in, "I'll go from the bottom,"

Within a few minutes both had reached the center of the page and they each landed on a set of names. Jane pulled the guest list and ran a finger down the list. She found the names and circled them.

"Oscar Hopkins and Daniel Traven, Billings Police Department, Montana," Jane said and looked up at her partner.

"That is a damn fine lead." She looked back at Jane, "Now that is some detective work."

"What just happened?" Elliot said.

Liv smiled, "I think Jane just pulled out the prime suspects."

Jane nodded, "Partners. Both of these guys are in one game or another. They were eliminated from the CQB in the round three. They were the wild card, the one team that got a second chance and when Kate and I tied you, in round three, they got knocked off."

"They were in only one other partnered game and again, we beat them in round four of the Take 'em down game, before we lost the final round." Kate ran a hand through her hair. "But both of these officers competed in single games."

"I'm willing to bet my next check that there are a few more incidents that no one has put together yet." She pulled the game roster file and started flipping through it. "I'll take Traven."

She handed the first sheet off and Kate took it and ran her finger down the list.

"Hand some here," Liv said.

Jane pulled about half out and handed them over, Liv split the stack and handed the other half to Stabler.

"Traven." He said.

"Hopkins," Liv agreed.

In ten minutes they had the list of events where Hopkins and Traven participated. Kate picked up her phone and called Colin.

"You need to come home for a minute." She said. "No, right now; we've got a lead."

She nodded and hung up, "Ten minutes."

Jane sat down on her stool and reached for her beer. Liv, Elliot and, Kate nodded in approval.

"Nice job, Jane." Kate said as she sat down and slung an arm around her partner, "You sure you don't want to come to NYPD?"

Jane smirked, "I'm from Boston."

Kate smirked back, "No one's perfect." She said as she took Jane's beer and sipped the Boston Lager.

**Skid Row - Final Round, 10:34 Hours**

Colin watched as Oscar Hopkins slid the patrol car around three barrels and barely missed the wall. He had to admit that Hopkins was good at driving. He looked over the crowd that had gathered, Like the CQB, Skid Row attracted quite a following. Bleachers were set up that had a great view of the course.

He watched the crowd looking for Daniel Traven. He knew that Elliot, Jane, Kate and Liv were in the crowd also looking for Traven. He wasn't exactly sure how they had come to the conclusion that Traven and Hopkins were most likely responsible for the death of LeBron Ellis but he trusted them.

They had spent the better part of the night going over the medical and incident reports and found some seemingly unrelated incidents that Jane and Kate both swore fit in with their theory. Elliot and Liv backed them up and Colin agreed to bring the partners in for questioning.

Colin caught sight of Kate as she sat down in a corner of the bleachers looking across the whole crowd. He couldn't see Jane but he figured she wouldn't be far away. He headed down towards the staging area where Hopkins would be pulling in after the next lap.

He caught Sight of Elliot standing nonchalantly off near an exit. He appeared to be enjoying the show but Colin saw him searching through the crowd. Colin entered the staging area and sat down next to the judges' booth.

Hopkins pulled in slowly and put the car in park before getting out. He smiled as the crowd cheered him on and he took a slight bow. He headed up the stairs and grinned widely as he stood before the three judges and he nodded to the Provost Martial. Colin didn't see the slightest hint of nervousness in the man as he stood with this other two competitors.

His driving was reviewed on the monitor and the judges passed on several compliments as he continued to grin, soaking up the attention. Once he was scored he stepped back and stood with the two other officers.

As Colin presented the first place trophy to Hopkins, his grin broke into a full on smile as he shook hands with the other two men.

"Officer Hopkins," Colin said, "If you don't mind I'd like to talk with you for a few minutes."

He nodded, "As long as there's beer where we're going, I've been dry all week for this game."

Colin laughed and nodded, "I can do that. First round is on me."

Colin led the way off the stage and they headed for the exit, Hopkins holding the tall trophy over his head proudly.

He smiled as he caught sight of his partner coming down the bleachers to congratulate him. He also saw Elliot and Olivia also heading toward the gate but he didn't think much of it. Colin looked up to see that Kate had disappeared into the crowd.

Traven smiled until he saw Colin. His smile faded slightly and as he looked over his shoulder he found SVU right behind him. He glanced at his partner and Hopkins gave him a thumbs-up with a wide smile, but it faded when Traven didn't smile. Traven ran.

Traven slammed into Elliot so unexpectedly that El was knocked into Liv. Both fell to the ground in a heap. Traven made it out of the bleacher area to find Kate Running after him. He ducked around a group of cops and knocked over a popcorn stand in his haste to get away. Kate leapt over the table and continued the pursuit. He turned sharply and dove over the Skid Row fence that encircled the track. Kate slowed to climb over it but Jane ran right past her and dove head first over the fence. She landed on her side and rolled to her feet, losing almost no momentum as she continued to run, her boots chewing up the ground as she ran. Kate ran for the car.

She jumped in and slammed the car in gear and tore off down the track. She spun the wheel and the car swerved around a pylon before she straightened it out and sped toward the far side of the track. She caught sight of Jane gaining on Traven as he ran. He went around most objects and like most any perp, yanked tires, barrels, and other things down so they would be in the way, hoping to trip Jane.

Kate had to admit that Jane was a great athlete as she ducked, dodged and leapt over them. She never slowed.

She lost sight of them as she ran along a line of tires but she figured she had to be close so she slowed the car. Just as she made it past the tire wall, Traven leapt onto the hood and dove of, Kate slammed on the brakes and Jane slid across the hood like the dukes of hazard. Kate abandoned the car and ran on foot. Traven leapt over the far fence sideways with one hand on the top bar just as Jane again did a flying leap and a combat roll. She came up and leapt again, this time on top of Traven. He fell to the ground hard and Jane drilled her knee into the middle of his back as she pulled her Glock and stuck it into the back of his head, "Don't you fucking move."

Kate caught up a second later and pulled the handcuffs Colin had given her that morning. She cuffed him and Jane holstered her weapon.

Kate looked at her partner, "Nice hood slide. You spend some time in Hazard County recently?"

Jane huffed, "Don't tell me you didn't watch it too."

Kate grabbed one of Traven's arms, "I always had a thing for Luke."

"I had a thing for the General." Jane said, "That car was friggin' hot."

Kate laughed as Jane pulled her knee out of Traven's back.

"You fucking dyke bitches!" he yelled, "Get the fuck off me!"

Jane smacked him hard in the back of the head, "Watch your language, asshole."

He shoved Beckett with an elbow and started to run but Jane kicked him in the back of the knee and he went down again. She knelt on his back again, "I'm being exceptionally nice considering the work out you just gave me but one more time and you're gonna flip my bitch switch."

Kate dug her knee into his back too, "You really don't want to see her crazy bitch side. It's not pretty."

Traven stopped squirming and settled down as Colin and Liv drove up in a BRP Commander. Liv smiled warmly at them, "Why didn't you win Take 'em Down again?"

Kate groaned, "Jane got knocked on her ass and I left her there, the judge didn't believe that Jane told me to go, even though she made the apprehension."

"I'm gonna have to look into that," Colin said, "Cause from what I just seen, you should have won."

He looked down at Traven, "Stick him in the back and we'll call the state police and wrap this one up."

Jane and Kate got up and dragged Traven to the Commander and set him in the back where Liv clipped his cuffs to the seat. Jane held up a fist to her partner and Kate bumped it. Liv climbed in to the utility vehicle and Colin looked back at them.

"You two want a ride back?" he asked.

They exchanged looks and Kate shook her head. "We'll walk back."

Colin nodded and hopped in. They watched as he drove away.

Jane looked at Kate, "Okay, I admit it."

Kate started walking back towards the main road with Jane right beside her, "Admit what?"

Jane smirked, "You're right, this place is fun."

Kate laughed and put an arm over Jane's shoulder, "I told you so."

She laughed as she put her arm up around her partner. "So, partner, you ready to kick El and Liv's ass tomorrow?"

Kate nodded, "I want them to cry like Colin's brain boys."

Jane couldn't help it, she liked Kate and she wished for all she was worth that Kate would come to Boston. She'd love to have her as a partner permanently, even if Kate was from New York.

_Hmm_, she thought. _Maybe Frost should be worried._


	10. Chapter 10

_**Uploaded as soon as it was done, I didn't even have time to send it to Z in an effort to keep my promise. Problem is thet My Muse pitched a big fit over the short I was writing so we're going to finish this one and then I'm going to get cracking on the next story of the Raven series. **_

_**Z- I'm sending chapters to you before the weekend so let me know what you think. **_

_**Toll all those following my story, I like to hear how I'm doing but My Muse feeds on them so please, post your thoughts, good or bad. just keep it clean.**_

* * *

><p>Liv and Elliot had Hoskins in Colin's office asking questions about the various incidents around post. He'd been rather cooperative after his partner had been run down but he had insisted that he didn't know why Traven had run.<p>

Jane watched through the small opening into the holding area for Traven to give any kind of sign. All she saw was nervousness.

Kate tapped her shoulder and they walked away from the door. "Does this feel off somehow?"

"What do you mean?" Jane asked, although she had a good idea.

"We've never spoken to Traven or Hoskins so why would he run?"

It was something Jane had thought of but hadn't voiced, "I was waiting until after we questioned him to say anything."

Kate quietly stepped back to the door and peaked in, "He's pretty nervous."

Jane smiled, "Let's see how much more we can make him."

"I call good cop." Kate said as she picked up a random file off of someone's desk.

They walked in to the holding cells and headed straight for the tank. Their walk was purposeful and confident although Jane's held that extra swagger that was pure Rizzoli. Jane unlatched the barred door and Kate stepped in, her partner followed right behind her.

Kate flipped through the file in her arms and schooled her face from revealing that she had picked up the latest edition of the Army's sensitivity training._Oh the irony here._

Jane leaned up against the block wall and tried not to blink as she gave her best interrogation glare.

Kate looked up at Traven from the file.

He smirked, "Wow, Nice job trying to look intimidating. Shame your both to cute to pull it off."

Kate closed the file and set it down gently. "Well, you've been a busy boy, Danny. Tell me how you managed to run around the base and accomplish so much in such a short amount of time and yet get run down by a woman who weighs half as much as you do."

Jane didn't say anything, just adjusted her arrogant smirk.

Traven looked at Jane, "What can I say? The little bitch is fast. I wonder if she's as fast in other areas." He leered at her thin frame.

Kate shook her head, "That won't work with us, Danny." Kate said, "We're not interested in the shit we get in our own department by better men than you. All I want to know is why?"

His lecherous look turned to her, "Why what?"

Jane spoke from the corner, "Why did you kill Sergeant LeBron Ellis?"

His leer dropped, "WHAT?"

Jane pulled her phone out and switched to a picture of Ellis's face with blood pooled around it. She stepped to him menacingly and held it up, "LeBron Ellis slipped on whatever it was that you put on the shower tilework."

His eyes went wide, "Hey I didn't do that!"

Kate scoff, "Sure you did. Tell me was it so Ellis wouldn't be there at Skid Row to compete with your partner?"

"We already know that you maced Janet Ostrowski's underwear because she threw you around a lot on the mat. What was that contest called, Subdue the suspect or something like that?"

He stared at the pic, "Into Submission."

Jane put the phone back in her pocket, "That's pretty sick for a little prick like you, mace a woman's underwear." She leaned into his ear and grabbed him by the hair, "I should kick your ass for that alone, you sick bastard."

"Jane." Kate said sharply, "Ease off."

Jane glanced back and the hard look from Kate said that she was just playing along. _Hit him again in a minute._

Jane let go and as she straightened and leaned against the wall behind him.

He looked over his shoulder, Jane beginning to get to him. "Yeah, okay. I hit the girl's drawers with some pepper spray. It wasn't supposed to burn her, just irritate her."

Jane reached out and slapped him in the back of the head, "It was mace, you asshole, not pepper spray. All of her privates have second degree chemical burns. Her skin blistered and it's going to take weeks for her to heal."

Kate leaned into Traven, "in case you haven't noticed, she takes assaults on females very personally."

He shook his head, "I didn't know it would do that, the guy I bought it from said that it's strong stuff and that it would leave a lasting impression on a suspect. It was just supposed to irritate her as kind of a payback for almost breaking my nose."

Jane didn't move but Kate held her hand up as if she had. Because she was standing directly behind Traven he couldn't see her jam a fist to her mouth to stifle a smile. Not that the situation was funny but Kate's ability to run an interrogation with some unorthodox methods was amusing. She was painting Jane off as the bad cop without her partner having to do much to sell it.

Speaking of which, Jane gripped him by both of his shoulders, he jumped, but only slightly. "Well why don't you tell us about the breakfast table. As I understand it those guys from Dallas were pretty sick the rest of the day."

"It was a prank. They had some fun at my expense so I had some at theirs. None of them got all that sick, just threw up a bit."

"How?" Kate asked, her eyes turned to steel.

"Just a common over the counter drug that induces vomiting." He said, "And before you ask, yeah, I put the laxative in the coffee at breakfast too."

Kate looked up at Jane, "And you thought it was the eggs."

"I said it was probably the eggs," The ebony haired woman said in a low tone, "But I definitely said we should have eaten at the house."

Jane gripped him by the hair, "I sat on the can for two hours thanks to you."

Kate grabbed Traven by the ear, "Why the coffee Traven, you own stock in Charmin or something?"

He glared at her then, "I couldn't figure out where you two were staying."

Jane grabbed him and yanked at his shirt, "Or what, you'd have sprayed mace in _my_ underwear?"

Kate grabbed her partner and pushed her back, "Easy Jane! Take it easy girl."

"Fuck easy, this chicken shit is begging for an ass whooping to be handed to him!" She shouted as she struggled against Kate.

"Jane, it's a murder we're here for." She shouted and it caused Jane to settle, "Ellis is dead because of him."

"Hey I already told you that I didn't kill anybody!" He shouted defensively, "I played a few pranks on a few people who had it coming. I'm sorry about the girl. I didn't know it was mace. The bottle said super-hot pepper spray."

Kate grabbed him then, "Okay now for the big questions, and you better answer honestly or I _will_ leave my partner in here with you all by herself."

His eyes went wide and Kate could see his worry, he was afraid of Jane.

"Anything." He said, "Just don't leave me here with her."

"How did you get in to mess with the drone in the CQB?"

His eyes went from fear to confusion, "What?"

"The drone, Traven!" Kate shouted, "Loaded with Live ammunition, how did you get in to the CQB to load it with live rounds? We know that it happened in between Miami's team and our team went in."

Jane closed on him, "My partner and I almost died in there. How did you get in to the CQB?"

"What do you mean?" He said and his voice was shaking, "I signed up just like you did. My partner and I got eliminated by you two."

"That's right and so you snuck in to the CQB and loaded a drone with live ammo sometime between three thirty and five pm two days ago." Kate spat.

"A little pay back for some dyke bitches who deserved it, right?" Jane growled.

"What the fuck are you talking about?" He stared, "Those things can't be loaded with live ammo, that's what the Irish guy said right? Besides I was at The Shield from two o'clock till around eleven two days ago Ask that bartender, he was there!"

Kate glared at him before looking up at her partner. Jane eyed the door quickly.

"Tell you what." Kate said, "How about if I give you and Jane a minute while I confirm your story."

"HELL, NO!" he shouted and struggled against the cuffs, "You take that crazy bitch with you."

Jane slapped him in the back of the head again. "Who are you calling a crazy bitch?"

Kate smiled, "I told you that you didn't want to see that side of her."

Jane grinned as she walked out, Kate right behind her.

* * *

><p><strong>Building 283<strong>

"And you believe him?"

Colin hadn't asked in sarcasm or in disbelief, merely as a question as he flipped five steaks over on the grille. He set the spatula down and slathered some more marinade on each one with a paintbrush before dashing it with steak spice.

"Jane laid it on pretty thick but yeah," Kate's grin was mischievous as she put it on her partner, "I think he's telling the truth."

"Me!" the black haired woman barked from the swing, "You made me out to be some loose cannon you got stuck with and I had to play along."

Liv chuckled from next to Jane as Elliot came out of the hangar with several beers in hand. He passed them around and took over the grille as Colin passed him the Tongs. Elliot immediately stuck them into the lower rack to turn the corn on the cob that was wrapped in tinfoil. They sat a mere inch over the hot coals.

"Oh this is going to be tasty," he murmured. His mouth watered at the thought of biting into one of them.

Kate was about to continue her report to Colin when Jane's phone blared out the Funeral Dirge.

Jane immediately jumped up and searched through her things for it. Everyone smiled and chuckles quietly. It was becoming routine when anyone heard the tune they all looked to Jane who would immediately tear apart her things, or the room, or in one case fly off the tread mill in search of her phone.

The last seven days with Jane had never failed to amuse any of them although Stabler did step in it once. He downloaded the Dirge to his phone and when Jane was hammered, he played it back and she tore the house apart trying to find it. When she found her phone and realized she hadn't missed a call, she went after him with murder in her eyes. Kate and Liv had to calm her down and she swore retribution on him.

He hadn't slept well in three days. Hard to sleep with one eye open he admitted to his partner.

Jane finally found her phone and hit the button as she walked down the drive way, "Hey Maura."

Kate waited until Jane was out of ear shot before glaring at Elliot, "She's still pissed at you, you know that right?"

He smiled, "It was funnier than hell watching her run around plastered."

Liv looked at him then, "El, you have no idea do you?"

He looked from Kate to Liv then Colin and back to Liv, "No idea about what?"

"Jane has no sense of humor when it comes to Maura." Kate said in warning.

Liv got up and crossed the small yard, careful to step around the fire pit, "Remember what I said about Jane? Don't mess with her about Maura or about being gay."

"Oh boy," Colin said with a regretful groan, "Maybe we should have waited on that vote."

Kate stuck up for her partner, "Absolutely not! I think she's a great addition to the house and may I remind you that we all have things we don't like to talk about."

"That's right." Liv added with equal conviction, "Jane is a wonderful person and fits in well here and I for one am glad we didn't wait."

Colin looked at them, "I like her too but if this is going to become an issue…"

Liv put a hand on his shoulder, "Jane _is_ gay, Colin. She just hasn't accepted it yet but she will and then it won't be a sensitive thing for her."

"As far as Maura goes," Kate said, "Jane is protective of her for some reason and she's devout in her loyalty."

Liv looked at her with a disbelieving expression, "It's Maura, Kate."

She stared at the robust woman, "Liv, I know you have the best gaydar in the world but I still have a hard time believing that she's gay, let alone that she's going to come out to her ME."

"That's because your straight, Kate." Liv said noting Jane's position far out of hearing range, "Jane hasn't had her awakening and I'm willing to bet that when she does, Maura is going to be the first one to know because Jane will want to be with her and her alone."

"Olivia the Wise. Fortune telling prophet of the LGBT." Elliot snickered.

"I'll remember you said that next time I have dinner with your wife." Liv glared.

He stopped smiling. "Okay now that's just not funny."

Both women leaned toward him. "Neither is you messing with Jane about Maura." Liv said.

"Okay, Okay." Elliot held his hands up and smiled from ear to ear, "I can see when I'm in the wrong."

"I doubt it," Kate scoffed. "Your genitalia prevents that view."

Liv laughed and held a hand up. Kate promptly slapped it five.

"Hey," Colin barked in feigned insult.

"You don't count," Kate said. "You were raised by all women so you know better."

El looked over to him, "And now were outnumbered."

Colin shook his head, "What the hell was I thinking?" He started to flip the steaks again.

* * *

><p><em>"<em>_The website said was that the CQB was temporarily closed due to a technical error. Since then the betting pool has gone up to five thousand."_

Jane whistled, "Damn." She shook her head, her wavy black curls bouncing lightly at the motion. "The biggest pot in BPD history and I'm not there for it. Put twenty five bucks on me taking first with the highest score."

_"__Jane, 'The pot' as you call it is centered around you."_ Maura said in a chiding tone,_ "__I don't think it would be fair to let you wager on yourself."_

"Spoiler," Jane deadpanned.

_"__I do not keep any foods past their expiration dates."_

She couldn't help but smile at her friend's obliviousness. "That's not what I meant." She said kindly. "I meant that your being a spoilsport."

_"__Oh I know that term," _She said exuberantly,_ "__A person who spoils the pleasure or sport of another." _Her voice fell,_ "__I don't mean to sabotage your enjoyment."_

There's that tone again, the regretful one, "Maura, stop talking everything I say seriously. I have an overabundance of sarcasm and I have to let it out frequently or I become really bitchy."

_"__But you just... Oh. That's more of your sarcasm."_ Maura said, _"__I think I understand. You don't really mean that I'm a 'spoiler'. You were making a joke."_

Jane laughed, "Yep, you got it. I was making a joke."

Maura giggled slightly, _"__Oh does that mean that your comment about letting out your sarcasm or you become bitchy was a joke too?"_

She smiled in spite of herself, "Yes it was a joke but it also happens to be true."

She heard s light chuckling, _"__Then I suggest you let it out a bit more often."_

Her eyes went wide as she realized that Maura had inadvertently called her a bitch, She wanted to let it go because she knew the blonde genius hadn't meant it but it just wasn't in her nature, "Oh so I'm a bit to bitchy, huh."

She heard Maura suck in a breath, _'__I.. Um. I'm."_

She burst out laughing, "I'm sorry, Maura but I couldn't help it."

_"__Jane that was mean,"_ her voice was stressed, _"__I really thought I might have hurt your feelings."_

"Anyone else would have, Maura" she said, "But I know you don't mean it. You don't have a mean bone in your whole body."

_"__Generally speaking, there are no bones in the human body that are either nice or mean. In fact the Temporal Lobe of the human brain controls both emotional and intellectual functions so even it isn't necessarily mean by nature."_

_As smart as she is and she misses the simplest things,_ Jane thought to herself. _God, it's so cute._

She stopped that thought in its tracks. Again she failed to understand why certain parts of her refused to accept the instructions they received. As a matter of fact, she wanted to ask the beautiful ME why she couldn't control these wayward thoughts but since many of them had to do with her, Jane refused to allow herself to ask.

"Sure must be nice to have a big beautiful brain like that." She said in awe without any conscious thought on her behalf.

_Gah, word vomit. Nice going Rizzoli, tell her she's got a big head. Why don't you tell her she's got big beautiful boobs too?_

_"__You thing I have a big beautiful brain?"_ she heard the hopeful voice. _"__Oh Jane that's very kind of you to say, thank you."_

She stopped, did she hear that right. Maura took _that_ as a compliment, "um, your welcome, Maura."

There was a click on the phone,_ "That's the station calling, I have to answer it."_

"Okay, bye Maura."

_"__Good bye, Jane."_ She disconnected and Jane's phone beeped loudly.

She took a deep breath and leaned up against a tree, "Jesus Christ, Jane. You better get a grip and get it soon or you're going straight to Hell."

She couldn't remember ever having this difficult of a time controlling herself. One thing no one could really say about her was that she had an impulse control problem. It was something she took pride in. She wasn't easily rattled, but Hoyt had changed that. Her fear flooded into her, threatened to overrun her again but a voice called her from the house and the hold was broken before she fell into that place again.

"Jane!" Colin's thick accent called out to her and she looked up the drive, "Food's done. Better get over here 'cause Liv's eying your steak."

She stuck her phone in her pocked and ran, she ran hard, as fast as she could and managed to get to her plate before Liv had made it up to the grille. What she wouldn't ever admit, not even to herself, was that she wasn't running to save her steak. She was running from her fears.

* * *

><p>Liv burped unceremoniously as she finished diner. Instinctively, Jane checked her plate to make sure nothing was missing. She reached for her beer and found it empty. She glared menacing thoughts at Liv who smiled sweetly at her.<p>

She held up her steak knife, the serrated edge gleamed against the fire light, "Babe, I'm gonna tell you one more time to lay off my beer."

She feigned an embarrassed look and covered her mouth, "Oh I'm sorry Jane, was that one yours?"

Liv lifted half a cob of corn to her lips and Jane's eyes went wide as she dropped the knife on her plate and snatched back her corn, "Jeez, I was looking right at you and still didn't see it."

She laughed with a warm mirth that was infectious. Jane couldn't help but smile, "You work in the wrong unit. You should have gone to Robbery 'cause I know you took half of my baked potato."

The older woman shrugged, "It had bacon on it. I love bacon."

"It was bacon bits and the top half is what you took." She said menacingly, "I'm going to catch you eventually."

Elliot laughed from his chair by the fire, "Many have tried few have succeeded."

Kate shook her head, "None have succeeded."

Jane looked at her partner and in a lightning move grabbed Liv's hand as she went back for the corn.

She smirked to Kate, "You were saying?"

Liv's eyes went wide as did Kate's. They looked at Jane's hand covering Liv's, the corn still in her grasp.

"Holy hell," Colin said, "I watched her clean you and Kate out but I've never seen anyone physically catch her."

Jane looked back at Liv, "You got greedy, babe."

Liv smiled, "You got me. Or did you?"

"Oh, I got you," She said as she held up Liv's hand that still held the cob, she lifted it to her mouth and took a big bite and let go of Liv's wrist. "You can have the rest." She said with a mouth full.

Kate clapped her hands as she laughed. Jane looked back at her and took a sip of the beer she relieved from Liv's hand. "I think you lost this." she said as she passed it back.

Kate glared at Liv, "I think my partner said it best. Lay off my beer."

'You two do work incredibly well together," Elliot said, pointing his beer at the two women. "If I didn't know better, I'd swear that you've been partners for years."

Liv agreed, "Absolutely, It's incredible. I've never seen two people just click like that."

After sipping her half empty beer, Kate nodded, "She's amazing, I doubt I'll ever find a partner like her."

"It's creepy," Jane said as she carved another hunk of beef of the steak, "It's like she's in my head and I'm in hers. I sure as hell wish you were from BPD."

A look of indignation passed over her face, ""Come to NYPD any time."

Jane's phone chose that moment to chirp in her pocket. She handed her plate to her partner and stood up to dig it out. She saw the ESPN update and scowled, "Sox lost to the Cardinals. Yankees are up next in St Louis."

Kate lifted her beer to her partner, "We shall avenge you."

Jane clanked a full bottle she didn't remember getting. She took a sip and looked to Liv who held a Boston Lager bottle cap in her hand and a smile on her face.

Colin set his plate down and tossed his napkin into the fire, "So tell me about the case. I know that I turned Traven over to the ISP and they were not happy to find out that you are running a murder investigation, especially when inspector what's his name declared it an accident."

Jane groaned and set her plate down in front of Liv. "Traven didn't do it. He confessed to the pranks and the tainted food but he alibied out on the murder."

"Andy Griffith is a wannabe and I doubt he could find his head if it wasn't attached." Kate growled as she set her plate down too. "There is no way that was an accident but we lack motive, and suspects. Hoskins had no idea that his partner was up to no good but he also said that it explains a few things back in Montana."

Liv took Jane's beer and sipped it before handing it back, "We're back to square one with three days to go before they get away with murder."

"A lot of times my cases come around with physical and forensic evidence." Jane said. "My ME is one of the best anywhere."

"Good luck getting the body to Boston." El said with a scowl. "Doubt ISP is going to like that."

Jane smirked at him, "Oh ye of so little faith. I took some samples and a lot of pictures and sent them to her the day the body was found. She already has them in the crime lab. She called to tell me that we should have an answer on that soap scum tonight."

AS if on cue, the dirge played again. Jane looked at Stabler, "If that's your phone, I'm kicking your ass."

She dug into her pocket and came up with the sound. She pressed the call button.

"Hey Maura." She listened for a second, "Okay I'm going to put you on speaker."

She pushed the button and set it down, "Okay, You've got Colin, Elliot, Kate and Liv listening in now."

_"__Oh, I didn't realize that they were all involved. Hello everyone, I'm Dr. Maura Isles, Chief Medical Examiner for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts."_

_J_ane rolled her eyes and put a palm to her forehead, "Maur, they know who you are. I told them about you already."

_"__Yes but I don't know any of them Jane."_ She said simply.

Okay." Jane said, patiently even though they could see her exasperation. "Everyone say hi to Maura."

Eliot smiled, "Hello Maura, I'm Elliot and Jane's talked about you quite a bit."

"Hello Elliot. I hope that Jane has said _nice_ things about me."

He snickered, "You could definitely say that."

Liv reached over and smacked her partner on the chest. "Stop!" she whispered before leaning over the phone, "Hello Maura, I'm Olivia and it's a pleasure to hear from you."

"Olivia, Jane has told me a few things about you and I'd just like to say thank you."

She saw Jane rub her palms slightly and knew that Maura knew about her tending Jane's hands, "Your welcome Maura. Jane has been a good friend so it's the least I can do."

She shifted uncomfortably as El asked the question, "Do what?"

"Things I don't talk about." Jane snarled at him.

He caught the look from her and Liv and nodded, "Got it."

Colin stepped in to get things rolling again, "Hello Maura," He said in a thick brogue, "I'm Colin."

_"__Colin,"_ Maura said excitedly, _"__Jane told me about her housing issue; it was very kind of you to open your home to her."_

"It wasn't a problem and Jane has proved herself more than welcome."

Kate rolled her eyes, "Hey Maura, I'm Kate."

_"__Hello Kate. I was hoping to get the chance to talk to you at some point. I must say that your skills and athleticism compliments Jane's very nicely. I am still amazed that your team has done so well in the CQB considering that you've never worked together before."_

Kate smiled at that, "Thanks Maura. It's been a lot of fun hanging out with Jane and I envy you. She's a helluva friend to have."

"Kay, now that the introductions are over, what did the lab say?" Jane urged.

_"__Oh, I'm sorry. I guess I got a little distracted." _They hear the shuffling of a paper and she came back, _"__The analysis of the white substance that you sent came back as a new type of lithium based lubricant for some light commercial applications. It has water repellent properties and doesn't delude in water. It makes an effective lubricant for submersed applications so long as it is applied in a dry environment."_

"You're saying that it has to go on to whatever object you want lubed but the object is dry before contact?" Liv asked. "How was it applied?"

_"__I would need to examine the crime scene before I could answer that properly."_

Liv looked up at Jane, who shook her head with a smile. "Maur, I think she means what would be the most effective method to cover the large area of the shower room?"

_"__Oh, well she should have asked that. The most efficient method that would afford the user a safe contact distance would be in an aerosol form such as a pre charged aerosol can or manually charged container."_

"Like a pump up lawn and garden sprayer," Kate asked.

_"__Yes, a garden sprayer would be a safe and efficient application device."_

"I saw the maintenance crews running around with those one gallon jobs a couple of days ago." Elliot said to Colin, "They were spraying the cement with weed killers."

"The base has a bunch of those in the maintenance shed." Colin said, "It's not often that a few are not out. We even use them indoors for certain pesticides like ants."

"So someone in cammo could just walk into a building carrying one of these things and no one would pay any attention." Jane said thought fully. Colin nodded his head.

"Hey, Maura, how hard is it to track down the manufacturer?" Kate asked with a glimmer of hope in her eye.

_"__It isn't an easy process. First we identify the formula and run it through the chemical identification data base at the Occupational Safety and Health administration to match its chemical make up to the manufacturer. The process takes almost a day to map the formula and OSHA can respond within a few hours or several days."_

Kate's face fell softly before she looked up at Jane.

"With Maura, you need to ask the right questions." She smirked at her partner, "Maura, did the crime lab already do this?"

_"__Of course, I wouldn't have called you if I didn't have those answers."_

"What did they come up with?" She asked.

_"__The manufacturer is a chemical company called Motor City Marine Lubrications and the manufacturing facility is in Detroit, Michigan. I looked online for their distributional information and they sell their products primarily to Marinas and other marine maintenance and service shops along the great lakes but they recently expanded to include automotive applications. This is however not an automotive product. The sample you sent me is a marine grade lubricant that is listed as a hull lubricant."_

"I think it's time we looked a little closer at the folks from Detroit." Elliot said confidently.

"I think your right." Jane agreed.

_** I bet you thought it was all wrapped up didn't you?**_


	11. Chapter 11

_**Big change going on so posts will be sporadic and not on any schedule for this weekend, so here you go. a day early and we'll get going on the rest shortly.**_

_**Z's beta and any mistakes are mine. To the Guest, keep posting, I like your insight.**_

_**Z figured it out, there's some kind of issue between your Word and my Word because I had the same problem with spacing twice. **_

* * *

><p><strong>Provost Marshall's Office - 12:30 hours<strong>

Jane folded up her notes into paper airplanes and flew them one at a time towards the garbage can. The latest one bounced off the edge of the large basket and crashed into the floor. She blew a raspberry and picked up another page and began folding.

Kate glanced up at her partner and the pile of airplanes that littered the floor near the corner where the garbage can resided. She shook her head and looked back at her own notes. She pulled another sheet off of her pad and crumpled it up. She threw it over her shoulder and it sailed across the room, bounced off the wall, and landed neatly in the can.

She went back to crossing out all the non-relevant information they had collected trying to solve the murder of Sergeant Ellis. They had been side lined by Colin while Liv and Elliot asked members of the Detroit police about Ellis and tried to put together a connection between the lubrication company and the dead officer.

Kate wadded up another sheet of paper and after Jane flicked her wrist, sending another plane towards the can, she tossed her paper over her shoulder. Jane watched the wad slam into the plane, knocking both out of the air.

"Really," Jane said with an exasperated sigh, "That one was going in."

Kate looked over her shoulder and saw her paper ball lying on the floor next to another crashed plane. She shrugged and turned back to her notes.

"We should go back to the house and put up a murder board." Jane said.

Kate looked up at her, "Jane, we're not at work, this is supposed to be my vacation and the last thing I want to see is a murder board when I've been drinking."

Jane crooked her mouth and raised an eyebrow in silent agreement.

She flew another plain and then she gave up, "Screw it."

She stood up and stretched her long, lanky body out to its full height and then started digging through drawers looking for tape. She found a dispenser and slammed the drawer shut. Snatching up the file she headed towards the glass window that separated Colin's office from the rest of the small room.

She quickly taped up a picture of Ellis in the center and started digging through the information and started sticking things to the window. Kate watched as Jane sorted through the file and taped things to the wall. When she had finished she took a step back and stared at her work but it didn't take long for her brow to furrow in frustration.

Kate stood up and like Jane, stretched her tall, lithe body before heading over to the window. She flipped through her file and started taking some things out and Jane passed her tape as she added to the impromptu murder board. When they looked at the information they had arranged they both silently agreed that they should have started here.

Kate jotted down notes on the papers and Jane added a few more.

Now it was Kate's turn to furrow her brow, "Now that I'm looking at it correctly, why do I get the feeling that this has a personal touch to it?"

Jane stared with knowing eyes, "The time line." She tapped three sheets of paper up on the wall next to the pictures and documents and used a marker to make a time line. Kate watched as Jane's face changed several times as she filled in details.

When she was done, Jane stood back and stared, "Okay, I see it too."

Kate looked at the time line. "MCML is based in Detroit and so was our vic."

"Coincidence doesn't seem to come into play." Jane said, "You're right, this does feel personal somehow."

Kate pointed at the time line. "He showered in the morning around six AM, corroborated by several witnesses."

"Breakfast an hour later at the Dining Facility." Jane pointed at the DFAC sign in. "Again with several witnesses."

"He goes from there with a few buddies to Skid Row and then over to the Shoot Out."

"Right but then he comes back around nine thirty to take a shower presumably because he's worked up a sweat."

"So how could this be anything but a bad prank?" Kate pinched the bridge of her nose.

Jane took a step closer and looked carefully at the picture of the shower room sprayed down with the lubricant. "This took some time to do."

Kate looked up, "But how much time?"

She thought for a second and then an idea struck her. She grinned widely at her partner, clearly pleased with herself. "Let's go find out." Jane said as she headed for the door.

* * *

><p><strong>Building 063 - Maintenance shed<strong>

Corporal Eugene Oswald sat in front of the fan on his desk passing his time by playing a digital baseball game that went out of style fifteen years ago. He found the small handheld game buried in a desk that came out of Fort Carson a few years ago. After opening the battery cover to find two leaky and corroded double A batteries inside, he had carefully removed them and meticulously cleaned the terminals before replacing the batteries.

Even though the old analogue game was obsolete even by a child's standard he had fallen in love with the stupid thing and had played it whenever he got bored, which was often when he got sent to Fort Justice. But the Army counted his time here against his National Guard contract so he accepted year after year to come to the LETO event, ever since he was nineteen and Fort Justice had opened.

With his feet up he watched the little black dot that passed for a ball cross from the pitcher's mound and he pressed the button to swing. Scoring a hit he began tapping at the run button furiously. He made it to first before the black dot returned to the pitcher's mound and he happily smiled at himself as he realized that the bases were loaded.

He'd been waiting for this moment for a while and was convinced he wouldn't get a grand slam this year. He was about to press the batting button to start the pitch when he looked up to see a Security Can Am Commander heading towards the big garage door that he intentionally left open to keep the big pole barn cool.

He watched the vehicle come to a stop outside and his heart jumped at seeing two of the sexiest women he'd ever seen climb out of the Recreational Utility Vehicle. They were both tall and thin with really long legs and well-shaped rears. Dressed in all black from their boots to the tight t-shirts that displayed their trim torsos nicely, they had their hair pulled back into ponytails but where one had a massive ebony mane that reached her shoulders, the other one's hair was a deep chestnut brown and was cut considerably shorter than her companion's. The only other real difference was that the black haired woman had a deeply tanned olive complexion that indicated a Mediterranean background but her companion had a far fairer complexion that reminded him of a description of Snow White's pale skin.

He stood up and checked to make sure he was presentable, that his boots were shiny and free of smudges, his brown shirt was free of stains, and that his Battle Dress Uniform pants were creased correctly and still tucked in to his boots.

As they approached, he found himself mesmerized by the sway of their hips as they walked toward him. Both oozed a confidence and magnetism that he couldn't understand but his heart started racing anyway as one walked with a graceful lope that reminded him of a cat on the hunt. The other one had a confident swagger that he didn't even know someone could possess and his mouth went dry. He wished he could see their eyes but both had on slim aviator sunglasses that looked as black as their clothing.

Oswald put on his best farm boy smile. "Are you ladies lost?"

Jane scoffed at him, "Not if this is the Maintenance shed."

"It most certainly is," He said with a grin, "Can I help you lovely ladies with something in particular?" His eyes passed between both of them and he tried in vain to hide his interest.

Kate narrowed her eyes at him behind her sunglasses. In a voice honed with years of experience in the NYPD, Kate barked at him with authority, "Ten-hut!"

Confusion passed in his face an instant before he snapped to attention.

"Pa-rade Rest!" She shouted with the confidence only career military could possess.

His right foot stepped a shoulders width out and he slapped his hands behind his back. His eyes were fixed into the woods.

Jade stifled a grin as Kate stopped right next to him. "Name! Rank! Service!"

In a strong voice that more revealed his unease than hid it he called out, "Eugene Oswald, Corporal, United States Army National Guard!"

Kate grinned, "Oh, you're a nasty girl. I should have known." She said using the Army's derogatory term for the Guard. He moved his eyes and Kate stepped in front of him "Eyes front, Corporal Oswald or it's going to be Private Oswald again! Do you get me?"

"Ma'am, yes, Ma'am!" He shouted.

Jane couldn't help but get in on this. Mustering up her official voice, she adlibbed a line from one of those old war movies her dad loved to watch. "Don't call us Ma'am, Asshole, we work for a living!"

"The name is Beckett and this is Rizzoli. Refer to us as Sergeants." Kate said sharply as she walked around him inspecting his stance and Uniform. Even though he was young she admired his form. Broad shoulders that were defined though not overly muscular, a nice chest, and a more or less flat stomach, strong hips and a nice butt, he was definitely someone worth ogling covertly. His arms lacked some definition but were muscled well. His Cotton t-shirt wasn't tight to his body like hers but it did show off a nice male figure. "Where's your blouse Nasty Girl?"

"Hanging up on the chair, Sergeant." He shouted dutifully.

She looked over to see the BDU shirt hanging over the chair back. She headed over to it as Jane marched around him with her hands behind her back. She eyed his torso and pants and stopped in front of him to look down at his shiny black boots.

"Sergeant?" he said questioningly. "What service are you from?"

Jane looked up at him and put on a face of contempt, "Did you just ask something of me, Corporal?"

"Who the hell told you to speak?!" Kate shouted and he returned to his parade rest stance, "You stand at parade rest until I tell you otherwise." She carried his shirt back to him and held it up, inspecting it right in front of him.

She eyed the shirt carefully and turned her head to face him,. "You don't stay in full uniform out here?"

Jane took her sunglasses off and glared at him from the side. He felt his pulse quicken again at the dark brown eyes that bore into him.

"Sergeant, we're informal around here on regular duty." He gulped.

"Stand at ease, Corporal." She said in a more sedate voice of authority.

He let out a breath and turned his head to face her.

She returned her look to his shirt as she spoke, "In answer to your very disrespectfully asked question, we work for the Provost Marshall as special investigators."

He cringed at her words. He couldn't imagine what brought a pair of O'Malley's special investigators out here but it couldn't be good.

Kate walked around him again and tossed the shirt over his shoulder. "We're looking for a pressurized sprayer."

"I have a lot of those, Sergeant."

Jane stepped up after she got a nod from Kate. "We're looking for one in particular. Do you clean them out before putting them away?"

"Yes, Sergeant." He said, "Unless marked as a dedicated container."

Kate nodded and turned back to him, "Did you get one back recently with an odd substance inside?"

He furrowed his brow and turned his head slightly, "Define odd, Sergeant?

Jane looked at the aisles of shelving that spanned the entire pole barn, "One that had some kind of white substance, looks kind of like soap scum, water makes it really slick?"

His eyes bulged in recognition, "Yes, Sergeant, I know that container. Someone put it on the shelf without cleaning it out. I found it when a soldier came in to get a sprayer for insecticides near the DFAC."

Jane passed a smile to Kate who grinned back before snapping out Parade Ground orders again.

"Ten Hut!" He snapped to attention, "Dismissed."

He put a foot behind himself and spun to the rear, the official maneuver for a dismissal. Jane was there waiting, "Do you still have this container?"

He nodded, "Yes Sergeant, I do. I kept it to show our head of maintenance."

Kate grinned at him, "Let's have it Corporal."

He walked them to the edge of the barn and opened the tool crib and retrieved a typical two gallon pump action sprayer complete with hose and spray wand.

"Don't know what this stuff is but it's nasty." He said as he shook his head, "The gloves I have wouldn't come clean and you get them wet even a little, you can't hold on to squat."

Jane pulled a pair of blue latex gloves out of her cargo pocket and stuck her hand in them before opening the top. She dipped a finger into the substance on the inside of the jug and rubbed the milky white substance between her finger and thumb.

"This is it," She said as she closed the lid, "I need a garbage bag or something to put this in."

Oswald nodded as he headed off to a locker and pulled out a clear thirty gallon kitchen bag which he held open as she gently deposited the sprayer into it.

"Is it a dangerous chemical, Sergeant?"

She looked up at him, "That depends on how you define dangerous."

"This sprayer was used in a crime that we are investigating," Kate said.

"I heard something about a dead body in a shower room," He said, "That have something to do with this?"

* * *

><p>Colin pulled up to the Maintenance Shed as Kate and Jane were putting the sprayer tied up in a bag in the back of their Can Am. He killed the motor on his Harley and looked over at them.<p>

"Something you two failed to mention?" He said sharply and both women noticed his irritation.

"Like what?" Jane said nonchalantly.

"Like why my office looks like a crime scene." He slung himself off the bike and set his helmet down on the seat, "Picture if you will the surprise on my face when I walk in and find pictures and papers stuck to my office window and all over my walls. Paper airplanes and wads of paper scattered everywhere. It made for a really nice impression to ISP when they came for my report on Traven."

Kate looked to Jane, "Told you we should have cleaned up the papers."

Colin shook his head, "Needless to say that Inspector Rollins was highly offended at the progress you were making on his 'accident'."

Jane scoffed, "Well, Andy Griffith is going to have to take a Prozac when we tell him that we found the murder weapon." She patted the bag gently.

"You're shittin' me," he looked at Kate. "How sure are you?"

"You want to win the annual burn out competition? Put a touch of this on your tire and you can go all night." Kate said with a grin.

"How the hell did you find it?" he asked incredulously.

"Sergeant Beckett, Sergeant Rizzoli." A soldier came out of the shed carrying a brand new sprayer. "Here you go, it's filled with a foaming cleaner that should give you an idea on coverage area."

"Thank you, Corporal." Jane said as she took the sprayer, "Sergeant O'Malley, the murder weapon was preserved due to the initiative and diligence of this fine soldier right here. Corporal Eugene Oswald."

The Corporal beamed until he saw the look Colin was giving them.

He raised an eyebrow at Jane, ""Is that so _Sergeant_ Rizzoli?"

She looked back at him with that cocky smirk that he had learned was pure attitude, "Yes Sergeant. It's true. This outstanding soldier made it possible for us to continue our investigation for the Provost Marshall's Office."

Colin pulled out a small note pad from his vest pocket and a pen, "Corporal Eugene Oswald. What's your unit, son?"

"Hundred and twenty fifth reserve, Sergeant. Camp Lincoln." He said proudly.

"Very well, carry on, Corporal." He said as he made a note. He made another one and held it up to Jane.

She read it and shook her head as she handed it to Kate.

Kate sputtered trying to keep her laughter in check as she read the words.

_Lucy, you have some splainin' to do._

Corporal Oswald held a hand out, "If you'd like Sergeant, I'd be happy to demonstrate the sprayer for you."

She handed it to him and he led them to the side wall of the Barn. He spent a minute building up pressure before he locked the pump handle in place and pointed the wand towards the wall. He sprayed a thick layer of foam across the steel and adjusted the tip nozzle before laying a wider bead further down.

"How wide can you make it?" Kate asked.

He adjusted the tip again and moved down the wall and sprayed a swath of cleaner two feet wide across a six foot span of the wall.

Jane shook her head, "It wouldn't take a person long to hose down the shower room."

Oswald hooked the wand back to the tank and relieved the pressure. "An area the size of a shower room would take a person about three minutes or so if they had an idea about what they're doing. But these things are not exactly rocket science."

Kate nodded, and looked at the mannish watch on her wrist, "It's been five minutes. Let's check out our tiles."

Colin silently followed them to a small bench covered in newspaper that had two blue ceramic tiles on it.

"It doesn't look scummy." Jane frowned as she looked closely at the tile. "It looks like it was glassed over. How the hell did the tiles in the bathroom end up looking like soap scum?"

"This is the same stuff in the can and it definitely looked like liquefied soap scum." Kate agreed as she scrutinized the tiles.

"Hey Sergeants," Oswald said rubbing his short cropped blond hair, "maybe if you tell me what this stuff is then I can help you figure out why it's not doing what you think it should."

Jane and Kate looked to Colin, who pinched his eyebrows together, _What the hell are they up to?_

Kate's nod was barely noticeable and Colin had an idea about what she wanted. He nodded back much more noticeably.

She looked to Oswald, "Remember that this is part of an investigation and it's classified."

Colin pursed his lips together. He should have known that they were punking this poor unsuspecting soldier.

"Understood, Sergeant." He said in an assuring tone.

Kate nodded to Jane who looked back at the soldier, "It's a lubricant for a boat hull. It apparently cuts down the friction between the hull and the water."

"That explains why it's water repellent." He thought for a second and he stood up straighter as he thought of something, "Oh wait, my cousin has a speed boat he races on Lake Michigan. He told me about this stuff they spray on the hull that makes it go faster but it has to go on the boat while it's dry or it flakes. He also said that you can't get too far away from it or it orange peels and that causes drag."

He went back to the shelf where the tiles were kept and pulled off two more. "Can one of you bring back the sprayer?" He said as he set them down on the bench before digging in a drawer for a spray bottle.

Jane retrieved the sprayer as he filled the bottle with water from the water cooler. He lightly dusted one tile and soaked the other one before accepting the sprayer from Jane and pumping it up again. He then took two steps further back and sprayed a beam of the white fluid onto the tiles. He rehung the wand and set it on the floor. They watched as the one that was lightly coated started to flake like it was covered in soap scum. The spray on the wet tile turned white like spilled milk.

Kate checked her watch, "Two minutes and we already have results."

"So the shower room was damp when it got sprayed," Jane commented, "That explains a lot."

"The murderer didn't want to be too close when he sprayed it down." Colin said, "Yeah, that does explains a lot."

She looked up at Oswald, "I think our good Corporal here deserves a helluva boon."

Colin nodded, "I'll see to it."

Jane patted the Corporal on the shoulder, "Great job, Corporal." She said.

Kate smiled up at him warmly, "Very nice work."

Jane took the sprayer in hand and headed back out to the Can Am with Kate right behind her. Colin looked at Oswald, "I'll see to it that you have a commendation for this."

He nodded curtly to the sergeant, "Thank you, Sergeant. By the way, what service are they from?"

Colin smiled all the way to his eyes, "They're Homicide Detectives. Rizzoli is from Boston Police and Beckett is NYPD."

Oswald frowned and dropped his head, "I got duped didn't I?"

"Punked is more like it but don't take it badly, son. Because of them, you're going to get some seriously positive attention from your CO."

He patted the soldier on the back and headed out.

Watching them drive away, Oswald shook his head and headed back to his desk. He frowned as he saw a note sticking out from under his digital baseball game. Opening it he found a smooth feminine handwriting that had his heart racing and his breath caught in his throat.

_Batter up, 11:00pm at the Rifle Range Pavilion, highly classified top secret. _

He smiled as he reread the note before picking up the game and saw that someone had played his next batter. He smiled even more at the words displayed **Grand Slam Home Run.**

* * *

><p><strong>Road to Building 283 - Midnight<strong>

Elliot drove Jane's Can Am back to Colin's hangar. Since they had broken a huge lead on the case, Jane had celebrated by having a few too many. Kate and Liv had run interference to keep her safe and Elliot had carried her out to the RUV. Colin and Kate had both rode off in separate directions and Elliot drove back with Liv in the back seat with Jane.

"Boy they picked a helluva time to take off didn't they?" Elliot said from the front seat.

"Hey, Kate is on vacation just like we are," Liv said as she sat with Jane in her arms, "And you know Colin."

"Yeah," He said with a wry grin, "I know Colin."

Jane patted Liv's leg and Liv looked up, "Pull over, she's going to pop."

Elliot smoothly but quickly pulled over and Liv yanked Jane over her lap so her head was hanging outside their ride. Instantly Jane began to unload the contents of her stomach onto the ground.

El looked over the seat and grinned, "I never saw anyone so small drink so much, nice to know what the effects are."

Liv patted Jane's back as she held a fist full of black hair in her other hand, "Poor thing over did it tonight."

She looked up to her partner and rubbed Jane's back lightly as the younger woman heaved for all she was worth.

"Well, that was you the night we arrived."

"Yes but you didn't hold my hair back."

"I was pretty hammered too and didn't think I could hold it in."

Liv nodded in understanding,

Jane finally stopped dry heaving as she laid half in and half out of the car limply. Liv nodded and Elliot pulled about ten feet forward and stopped to get out. He took a fist full of napkins from The Shield when they left and now he knelt next to Jane and gently wiped her mouth with a few before throwing them into the cargo box. Satisfied that she wasn't dripping he knocked his ring gently on the roll cage and Liv pulled her back inside as Elliot climbed back in and resumed the drive home.

Liv gently ran her hand through Jane's hair as she lay in her lap. She mumbled something and slid an arm around Liv.

Liv was about to ease her up when she heard a light snore coming from the woman in her lap. Jane had passed out. Liv shook her head and resumed the gentle affection of rubbing Jane's head.

Elliot pulled the Can Am right into the hangar and turned around before backing it against the wall. He knew that Colin and Kate would be coming back eventually so he left enough room to park the bikes.

He got out and gently took Jane from Liv's arms, "I'll get her into her room and you can take it from there."

She nodded as Elliot led the way.

She opened the door and Elliot entered and set Jane on the small couch. He patted her head gently and patted Liv's shoulder. "See ya tomorrow."

Liv took her coat off and draped it over the arm of the couch as she headed for Jane's bathroom. Filling a small cup full of water, she picked up Jane's garbage can and carried them out to her friend before retrieving a wash cloth she soaked in warm water.

She sat Jane up and put the cup of water to Jane's lips. "Jane, honey, you need to drink some water."

Jane groaned but pursed her lips around the cup and sucked in some water. She swallowed three good sized sips before gently nodding. She fell back into Liv's arms and muttered some more. Liv tried to hear it but it was a garbled mess of Italian, Latin, and English. But what she had heard was a distinctive "Hail Mary, Full of Grace." repeated in Italian.

She stroked her hand through the ebony curls again and Jane settled slightly. She snuggled down a bit and Liv gasped when Jane rested her head on Liv's breasts.

She was going to lay her down on the couch but the contented groan and gentle breathing stopped her. Liv figured that Jane was dreaming of Maura again until she started hearing sniffles.

"Mama, Joey told Father Rossi I kiss girls and I'm going to hell," She murmured. "I hit him and he went to sleep."

Liv smiled at the thought of a young Jane punching out a boy for calling her gay, although she thought about it and it was interesting to see this side of her. Another clue as to why Jane would hide from herself.

"Did you kiss a girl, Jane?" She asked softly.

She sighed, "No Mama, I'm a good girl." It was barely audible.

"It doesn't make you bad, Jane." She said softly.

"It's a sin," she whispered, "You said so."

Liv stroked Jane's hair and stayed quiet. The massive amount of information she had just gleaned explained so much about Jane. She grew up a devout Catholic and her faith and her family wouldn't let her be who she was. Liv's heart broke for the woman in her arms, a woman who was completely at war with herself. Her heart was outnumbered by her faith, her family, her sense of morals and her own denials, but the funny thing about hearts was that no matter how strong an enemy, the heart would not be denied forever. Liv could personally attest to that.

She felt guilty for prying into Jane's innermost thoughts but at least now she knew what the poor woman was facing. Unfortunately it was nothing that liv could help with, it was something Jane had to find in herself.

She waited until she was sure Jane was asleep again before she eased her off and gently stripped the woman down to her t-shirt and boy shorts before easing her into bed. Liv gently took the wash cloth and cleaned up the evidence of Jane's hurling and tucked her tightly into bed. She set the water down on the bedside table and picked up all of the clothing and dumped it into the basket by the bathroom before putting the garbage can next to the bed.

She sat on the edge of Jane's bed and watched her sleep for a moment before she gently ran a hand through those silky locks of tangled black. Even in the harsh light of the sun, Jane's hair was the dark of space itself. She gently squeezed the woman's shoulder before getting up when Jane grabbed her hand.

She looked down into chocolate eyes that were dazed with alcohol and sleep but unlike before, they knew who sat next to her.

"Thank you," She murmured her throat husky and parched. "Thank you for not judging me."

Liv smiled and patted her scarred hand, "You're always welcome Jane, always." She leaned over and kissed her forehead. Jane's eyes drifted shut and she fell asleep again. It took Jane more than ten minutes to loosen her grip on Liv. She sighed as she got up and pulled the extra blanket out of a drawer. She left the room and made her way out to the fire pit. Since the embers were still hot she set the blanket down on the swing and tossed a couple of small logs on the hot coals. As she settled in on the padded swing she awaited Kate's return.

She had drifted off for about two hours when the roar of a V twin awoke her. She looked out and seeing the three bright lights coming down the drive she knew it was Kate. Kate killed the engine and coasted up to the hangar where she peeled off before entering and parked outside. She unlatched her helmet and looked over at Olivia.

"You only sit out here when you're troubled." Kate said as she rested the bike on its kickstand and climbed off, "You get a call?"

"No," She said, "I took care of your partner."

Kate looked at her oddly as she peeled off her helmet, "What's wrong with Jane?" and there was real concern in her voice.

"She had too much to drink." Liv said.

Kate draped her leather jacket over her seat to keep it dry and headed over to her friend, "Drinking too much and hurling doesn't usually put you out here."

She grabbed a large log and dropped it on the fire before sitting down next to Liv.

"Jane's a tough girl, she can handle it." Kate said confidently.

Liv nodded as she stared into the fire. "You should wash the sex off and sleep in Jane's room tonight."

"It's a hangover." She said, "I'll take care of her like I did the day she came here."

She didn't understand and Liv was under no mind to tell her Jane's secrets or her own.

So she settled for a lesser explanation, "I need some distance, Kate. For my own good as well as Jane's but I don't feel comfortable leaving her alone all night. It's just a feeling so would you please ease my mind?"

Kate looked at her and sighed before patting her friend's blanket covered knee. "Okay, babe. For you, I'll go babysit my partner."

Liv smiled, "Thank you Kate. I appreciate your faith."

Kate looked back as she headed inside. It was an odd thing for Liv to say. She stuck her head into Jane's room and seeing her in bed bolted over to her own. She stripped off her boots, jeans and underwear and slipped on some sweats. She pulled out some fresh underwear and a new shirt, towel, her shower kit, and headed off to Jane's room. She probably could have gotten away with taking a shower in her own room but something about the way Liv was acting had her a bit on edge.

She went into Jane's bathroom and leaving the door open to keep an eye on her friend, she stripped and turned on the shower. Ten minutes later she stepped out to investigate a strange sound and found Jane hurling in the toilet.

Kate knelt down next to her and pulled back her hair. Jane tried to look over and Kate stopped her, "Get it all out, partner. I'm here."

Jane heaved again and Kate stayed with her. After a few minutes Jane's body stopped spasming and she leaned her head on her forearm.

Kate stayed with her but poured another cup of water, "Here, water will help."

Jane eased back resting her but on her heels, taking the water she drank greedily. Kate refilled the cup again and handed it back to her partner. Jane took another few gulps and then rinsed out her mouth and spat it in the toilet. Kate reached over and flushed but as Jane started to teeter, she lurched to catch her preventing the Italian from banging her head on the wall.

Liv was right on the money. Jane shouldn't be left alone tonight. Kate carefully eased her very drunk partner into the corner where she wouldn't fall and stood up to towel off and get dressed. After slipping into her briefs and a t-shirt she turned around and grabbed a hold of her drowsy partner so she could move her back to bed. She halfway carried Jane on her partner's shaky legs as she was a hair's breath away from passing out again but as they got to the bed, Jane fell but didn't let go of Kate and they both toppled into the mattress. Jane's eyes opened in intoxicated confusion as she looked around and then to her partner.

Kate had a warm smile that shown her amusement, "So are we having a sleepover or is this is your way of saying you're attracted to me?"

Jane's eyes got smoky with desire for a second before they lost focus again and she passed out. Kate was nonplussed for a full minute at the heated look that had darkened Jane's eyes and finally realized at Olivia was correct, again.

Remembering the morning after Jane had arrived and her aloof appraisal of Colin and Elliot as they worked out in the hanger. Jane's interest had been negligible as Kate's breath had caught in her chest at the hot potential of either man in bed. She had noticed several times Jane had checked out men and each time it was as if she was looking at equipment, deciding a preference as opposed to gauging the possibility of satisfying sex. Even with Corporal Oswald, Jane had looked him over as if she were a military officer inspecting a soldier, where Kate had decided that he was well worth a roll in the grass as it were and he had been.

Now that she was thinking about it, she remembered Jane's eyes wandering around the CQB pavilion and returning to Dani Reese more than once. At the time Kate had been thinking she was checking out Charlie Crews but no. Now she remembered Jane's eyes following Reese but even Kate could admit that the Detective from LAPD was attractive. Now what Liv said about Jane watching her on the elliptical while Liv ran on the treadmill made more sense. From the bar she had a perfect view of Kate's rear and Liv's chest. Now she also thought about dark eyes watching her through the mirror as she dried herself a few minutes ago in the bathroom. Funny how, Kate hadn't paid any attention at the time. But it all came back to one single conclusion as she worked over the evidence in her mind.

In the Case of the Sexual Orientation of Jane Rizzoli, Kate concluded that Jane wasn't straight or bisexual; she was completely gay.


	12. Chapter 12

**_Some awkward moments and the return of Jane's very edge of good taste sense of humor. We'll stay there for the rest to keep it fun._**

**_Often it's a thing for me. The Diary of Jane was supposed to be a 6 shot story but turned in to a massive thing. I shot for 12 0n this and will be lucky to close it before 15. I underestimate myself, it keeps me honest. Plus once MY Muse get's going, she can go all night and gets in a tiff when I need sleep. Slow on the uploads because I'm n process of changing employers, plus having Z Beta means that there is a small additional delay since he's anywhere from 6 to 10 hours ahead of me depending on where I am but it does make for easier reading. As usual all mistakes are mine and I got the spacing set right. Due to regional differences, my Word Processor and Z's don't always get along and it messed up the spacing on the last chapter but I fixed it._**

**_Hope you enjoy, I have the murder concluded but need some info filler. Then it's on to the CQB Round 5 and memorial weekend. Anyone want to see both finalist runs?_**

**_Hope you enjoy. Please, good or bad, please comment._**

* * *

><p><strong>Building 283 – Jane's room<strong>

Jane woke up to her pounding headache and what was quite possibly the worst hangover she ever had. Her mouth tasted like old carpet and her throat burned as if she had drunk a gallon of gasoline and swallowed a lit match. She opened her eyes and looked around with blurry vision at her room to find a tall cup of water sitting on her nightstand. She reached over the warm body that separated her from the table and grabbed the cup before downing it in three gulps. She sighed as she flopped back into bed and curled up next to her companion.

She sighed contently as she rested her head against a feminine shoulder and draped her arm over the trim muscular back. She lay there for a second enjoying the comfortable sensation of her face against the soft heat of the woman's body.

Her eyes snapped open as she realized that she should have been alone. She jerked upright, the sudden motion caused her head to swim in a wave of dizziness and pain as she looked down to see Kate laying on her stomach clad in a white wife-beater tank top and, as she pulled back the blanket, white cotton briefs.

Kate stirred and reached behind her back, groping for the blanket. Once found she pulled it to cover her chilled back.

"Kate?" Jane said nervously.

"Go back to sleep, Jane." Kate said sleepily as she settled into the pillow a little tighter.

Jane covered her face with her hands and breathed in deeply, trying to steady herself and quiet the buzzing in her ears.

She tried to recall last night and found nothing but blackness. Her last memory was one of many rounds of tequila at the Shield. She didn't remember leaving the bar let alone coming back here. She pushed her mind hard trying to piece something together but failed as the pain in her skull intensified with her efforts. She gave up and looked around. Expecting to see Kate's room she was surprised to see her equipment locked in the cage which meant Kate was half naked in her bed.

_Oh god, please don't do this to me._ She looked down at the sleeping form of Kate and closed her eyes. She prayed that she hadn't done what she thought she might have.

There was a soft knock at the door before Colin poked his head in. He raised an eyebrow at Jane sitting up in bed next to Kate whose face was mashed into a pillow with her sleep disheveled brown hair covering the bulk of her face.

He smiled lightly, "That explains why I couldn't find Kate. Just thought you should know that we're opening the CQB today. Roll call is at Ten hundred."

Jane buried her face in her hands again as he left, utterly embarrassed. She reached deep inside for her strength to keep from crying right there on the spot.

Kate groaned loudly and blew the hair away from her nose, "Ugh, I get laid and just want to sleep in and someone always ruins it."

Cringing at her partner's words, she started reciting every prayer that she could remember from her childhood in her head as fast as she could while her partner rolled over.

Kate stopped as she saw Jane trembling. Wanting only to comfort her friend she tentatively reached an arm out to touch Jane's shoulder. The touch sent Jane flying like lightning to the bathroom where the door slammed and locked.

Kate blinked at the door several times before she got out of bed and knocked on the bathroom door. She didn't get an answer except for the running of the shower. She knocked a bit louder.

"Jane?" she said carefully. "Jane, open the door please."

Again, nothing.

"Jane, if you don't open this door," Kate raised her voice, "I'm going to kick it in."

The door unlocked and Jane jerked it open and her expression wasn't kind, or sad, or embarrassed, it was anger, pure heated anger.

"What!" she barked.

Kate looked down to see that Jane was still in her shirt, bra, and boy shorts but she was soaking wet. Kate stuck her foot in the door subtly and Jane's eyes narrowed at the action.

"Let me in." she said simply.

Jane tried to shut the door on her foot and Kate shoved her back and gasped as she felt ice cold water covering her partner. She shoved her way in and relocked the door. She shoved her hand into the water and confirmed that it was only a few degrees above freezing. She shut the water off and glared at her partner.

Jane had her back to her with her arms wrapped around herself violently shivering. Kate put a hand on either shoulder and Jane shook them off viscously.

"Hey now, what the hell is this, Jane?" she said sharply, "I'm trying to help."

She glared over her shoulder, "Like you did last night?"

Kate looked confused, "Yeah, like I did last night and the night you arrived and all the other times since."

Jane turned and scowled, she waved a finger between them, "So all of this was so you could get me into bed?"

Kate's expression turned from confusion to anger, "Excuse me?" She pointed a finger at her, "I wasn't the one who got piss fire drunk last night."

"That's your excuse?" Jane's eyes saw red, "I was drunk so you fucked me? I don't do women Kate. You knew that!"

All of Kate's anger retreated in an instant, "Jane, I didn't…"

"Don't lie to me, Kate." She yelled, "You said it yourself, you got laid and wanted to sleep in!"

She started laughing, it was automatic and she couldn't stop it as she sat back on the sink. Jane however wasn't amused, "Oh that's funny to you. Huh. Yeah. Was I some kind of bet between you and Liv to see who could get me in bed first?"

Kate waved her arms and made a cut throat gesture at her as she tried to contain herself.

"Well I'm so glad that you got laid and had a good laugh at my expense." She tried to walk past but Kate threw a leg out and stopped her.

Jane's look turned deadly, "You better take that foot down before I put it someplace you don't want."

"Jane," Kate said through her laughter, "We didn't have sex."

"You're lying." Jane said, and there was more hurt than anger now.

Kate managed to reel it in enough to speak, "No Jane, really. We didn't have sex."

Jane folded her arms over her chest again, "Then why did I wake up to find you in my bed?"

Kate took a final breath to calm herself, "Because you were so drunk that Liv didn't want to leave you alone but she's going through a hard time herself and wanted some space. She asked me to stay with you so you didn't crack your head open the three times you hurled in the bathroom, which you almost did twice."

Jane glared.

Kate matched it with all the honesty she possessed, "It's true. That's why I was on the outside of the bed, so you'd wake me up as you tried to climb out." Kate waved a hand at them, "If we had had sex Jane, you and I'd both still be naked."

Jane looked down at herself. She wore the same clothing that she had yesterday, minus pants and socks. Kate however was in a tank top, no bra, and briefs.

"You said you got laid," she said, not entirely believing it.

She smiled with a satisfied grin, "Yeah, I did. Last night after you, El, and Liv left I hooked up with Oswald."

Jane stared in disbelief; "Oswald? He's like twenty."

Kate smiled again, "Twenty four and very virile." Her eyes got a heated look to them as they stared of in the distance. For a second, then she blinked and was back. "So you can put your anger and dismay to bed because although I went to bed with you, your virtue is intact."

Jane stared and then sighed a breath of relief, "Jesus. I though…"

Kate moved a little closer, trying to understand Jane's denial, "Do you think Liv is a bad person because she loves a woman?"

"No, of course not!" Jane said defensively, knowing where this was leading, "I don't have a problem with Olivia's preference so long as that preference isn't me."

"I'm not saying you, Jane." Kate said carefully, "But I'm asking what is so wrong with wanting to be with another woman?"

"There's nothing wrong with it," Jane said, her anger mounting, "It's NOT for ME!"

Seeing that this conversation wasn't going to go well she opted for an easy way out, "Okay, that's not where I was going but okay."

Jane thanked her silently as Kate turned on the shower and adjusted the temperature to a much warmer setting. "You go ahead," She said as she turned to leave, "I'm going back to my room."

Jane watched her friend as she gathered her things and walked out. Kate had a semi hurt expression on her face and Jane felt guilty for putting it there. She hadn't deserved that attitude and it bothered Jane that she cared. These were people that in a few days she'd probably never see again and yet she didn't want that.

Kate Beckett, Olivia Benson, Elliot Stabler and Colin O'Malley were good people and she liked them, liked spending time with them, even if three of them were from New York City. Despite her best intentions these people's opinions mattered to her.

She stripped down and stepped under the spray, thinking about how to make this right. Kate had taken care of her last night and so had El and Liv. Jane felt ashamed at herself, not for her usual reasons but because she had trusted them and at the first questionable sign, she leapt to the wrong conclusion. Jane resolved herself to doing something she hated to do.

She'd apologize.

Kate stepped out of her tub to find Jane sitting on her bathroom counter fully dressed with two cups of coffee in her hands.

She scowled hard at her, "For a straight woman I certainly find you around a lot when I'm naked."

Jane cringed slightly and then set a sarcastic smirk onto her face, "Says the woman who climbed into _my_ bed last night." She held up one of the coffees, "Peace offering."

Kate took the cup into her hand and sipped, without breaking eye contact. "You want to tell me about the cold shower?"

Jane considered her words carefully because she didn't want to tell anyone about her issues, "Let's just say that it's nothing to do with sex or desires and leave it at that, okay?"

"Okay," Kate said as she set down her coffee and grabbed a towel for her hair and another one for her body. She quickly wrapped both and sat on the edge of the counter next to Jane, "You know how that looks, right?"

"Yeah," she said deadpan, "I know, that's why no one knows that I do it."

Kate shook her head as she sipped at the coffee. "You are a very complicated woman Jane Rizzoli."

Jane smiled then and looked over at her partner. "Don't tell anyone; you'll brutalize my killer rep."

Kate laughed, "Okay, now get out of my bathroom or you're going to see me in the nude again."

Jane laughed and couldn't help but joke, it made her feel better, "Well at least it's a nice view." She said as she took her coffee and headed for the door.

Kate blinked in surprise, gone was the hurt, angry and, guilt filled woman who she had woken up with and in her place was the sarcastic, wise cracking, hard ass she first met. She said the words but the truth stunned her anyway. Jane was a complicated woman.

* * *

><p><strong>CQB Round 4 Redux: NYB Taskforce Team<strong>

They froze as they saw the sea container standing perpendicular to the room, the lights flickered and the dry ice machine had fog rolling across the floor. Everything was exactly as it had been in the first round.

"Wow, this looks familiar." Jane said, "Your turn to catch me."

Kate's eyes darted around the dark, foggy warehouse, "This is too easy."

Jane swung around expecting to see a drone but none was present. "I don't remember it being easy."

Kate took two steps back and Jane joined her.

"Think; Colin wouldn't run the same scenario twice in a year." Kate said as she eyed the sea container. "Something has to be different and it might be subtle but it will greatly impact the scenario."

Jane eyed her and then the hallway and over her shoulder to the warehouse. "You're right, it's too easy. Think Bruno's in that box?"

"Maybe, but he wouldn't be the surprise." Kate said and caught Jane's gaze. _Let's go._

Jane nodded and just like before Kate took up a position on the left wall as Jane took up the right, their lines of fire crossing and overlapping. Like in the first round, it was a good position to be in. Jane crossed to the same crate but nothing happened. The drone on the catwalk wasn't there. She glanced back at Kate who moved up to her own crate. They were out now but no drones. Jane pointed off to the right of the room and Kate nodded before slipping away from the crate.

Jane followed carefully as they made their way to the back side of the sea container to come around Bruno in a better position. But as they rounded the back, Jane froze. Kate stopped sensing her partner's hesitation. Jane's eyes were darting around the room, her brow furrowed.

_What?_ Kate sent.

_Something's wrong._ Jane backed up slowly.

As Kate turned to follow, she caught movement out of the corner of her eye and instinctively slammed into her partner. Both women fell to the floor behind the sea container as a single smear of red splattered the side of the metal box.

A drone came out of the dark not ten feet away and Kate shot it neatly in the face. It stopped and folded up.

"Did you see it?" Jane asked as she climbed up into a crouch.

"Far side of Bruno's box, that's all I got." Kate rose to her feet, weapon trained into the dark.

Jane eased her head around the container and didn't see anything. She had just pulled her head back when another drone rose up in the fog, she shot it and it went down. The lights flickered and went out on the far side of the room.

Jane caught movement then and she trained her weapon but nothing showed. "Okay, this one wins as the creepiest scenario ever."

Kate eased around the container, the way they came in and froze. Jane was right, something was wrong here. She dove head first behind a crate and received a shot from the dark that barely missed.

"Sniper!" She shouted to her partner who immediately made herself skinny behind another crate.

"I hate snipers!" came the husky voice from the crate.

Jane eased around the crate and ran as fast as she could to the next one. As she dove behind it she caught sight of the muzzle flash high up on the wall. "Second level!"

She rose up and fired where she had seen the flash but hit nothing. She watched carefully looking for movement and almost missed the roller that came at her from the rear. She rolled across the floor and fired from on her back at the drone. It shut down and the sniper fired just as Jane continued a roll back to the crate.

She realized that the sniper wasn't in the same spot. "It moves around up there!" She shouted as she gauged the situation.

The sniper had separated her and Kate. Both were on opposite sides of the giant metal box. Jane ran to the outside wall hidden in the dark as fast as she could. With her back to the wall she didn't have to worry about drones sneaking up on her as she fired.

She watched carefully for Kate but couldn't see far into the fog. Friendly fire was going to be an issue. Not getting shot by the sniper was another. Damn, she had to give Colin's brain boys credit; it was a tough scenario.

She briefly had the idea in her head about calling Kate but didn't want to give away her position or Kate's. She hoped Kate had done the same thing and put her back to a wall. That was when she caught sight of the sniper for an instant. It was silently circling the room on a track suspended from the ceiling. She smiled as she figured out how to take it out. She quietly eased over to a small dumpster that sat near a wall. She found a drone crouched next to it.

_I hope the hit sensors pick this up._ Jane brought the butt of her pistol down against the drone's head. Its red eyes flashed brightly and then went out as the gun arms which were pulled tight eased down to the floor. _I'll have to remember that._

She took up her position in the dark and waited.

Kate cursed at her bad luck. She was stuck on the wrong side of the container from her partner and the sniper was nowhere to be seen. She pressed her back to the corrugated steel and started to ease towards the front. At this point she'd rather face Bruno again. She watched both sides of her as she gently eased into a slightly darker section of the room and crouched low in the fog as she made her way.

She froze as she heard a loud metal on metal crack and she looked around the dark, trying to figure out where it came from. She heard a gentle wheezing of the fog machine as more of the smelly ice was sprayed into the room.

_At least cover shouldn't be a problem._ She thought as she ducked lower into the spray. She rounded the metal door and looked inside. She couldn't see anything and decided not to risk it until she located her partner. She continued around the container. She didn't notice the machine silently following her from above. She ducked behind a crate and looked around, her back to it as she tried to see her partner.

Jane breathed a sigh of relief as she spotted Kate sneaking around the container. That was one problem solved but she couldn't abandon her position or she'd miss the sniper. She thought about tipping her partner off but again she didn't want to give up the best chance of taking out their biggest threat.

_Sorry girl._ She sent even though Kate wasn't looking at her, _but he's a threat to both of us._ She caught sight of the sniper as it wheeled along the track in a semi lit area but it was too fast to shoot so she waited and hoped like hell Kate didn't give it a clear shot.

It followed her slowly through the dark, speeding up only in the light. Its sensors trained on Kate. It gently rolled along its track and waited for the shot. In calculation of a kill it sped up to a position ahead of the target and came to a stop looking straight at the side of the metal box and it waited as Kate stepped right into its electronic sights.

Jane pulled the trigger six times in rapid succession as the drone came to a stop nearly over her head. She ejected the magazine and slapped in a fresh one.

Kate turned sharply, weapon trained as she heard the gunshots. The flash of the barrel was from deep in the dark but it wasn't directed at her and that was the only reason she didn't shoot. It was firing straight up and then there was nothing. A few seconds later a flashlight kicked on and shined up at a figure dangling from a rail before switching off.

"Jane, that better be you." She said quietly.

"It's me," came the reply, "Sniper down."

Kate rushed forward and damn near ran into the drone Jane had taken out with a crack from her pistol.

"Other side," Jane said from the far side of the dumpster.

Kate crept around and didn't breathe again until she was next to her partner.

"That was fun." She said and looked around, "Nice view."

She felt the scarred palm grab her and pull her away, "C'mon, we're not done."

Kate followed Jane hand in hand in the dark, grateful their shooting hands were opposite. Kate's gun was searching, as was Jane's.

Jane felt a light squeeze in her hand and she stopped. Her hand was pulled down and she crouched low. Kate watched a drone quietly rise up from the far side of the room, just barely in sight. Jane saw it too and patted Kate's shoulder.

She felt Jane's lips brush lightly against her ear, "Watch this."

Kate couldn't exactly see what Jane was doing but she heard the loud rack of her weapon and the sound of a bullet hitting the floor. The drone turned toward them and aimed but didn't fire. It stood there for twenty seconds before it started rolling towards them. Kate noticed a second one coming from the opposite side. Jane felt around on the floor for the bullet and once found she held it against Kate's hand.

Kate recognized it and tried to take it but Jane didn't let go. Instead she threw it close to the second one. Both zeroed in on the sound and headed towards it. Jane waited until the drone was right next to them before she leaped up and cracked it in the face. Its lit eyes flashed and it folded up face down arms to the floor. Jane fired and hit the second one.

Kate looked in amazement, "You can do that?"

Jane chuckled, "Leave it to Colin to make it as real as possible."

They looked around in the dark and figured they must have a few drones left.

Kate huffed, "Let's get it over with."

"You got it."

Jane eased out of the dark and Kate followed her. Two drones rose up and were promptly shot. They made targets of themselves and waited but nothing happened. Seeking a way out, they started kicking things around and making noise. Jane huffed as she looked at the container and caught Kate's eyes. She nodded and Jane moved up. She looked into the container but didn't see anything. Jane banged her pistol against the metal door. The clang inside was deafening.

"C'mon Bruno!" She shouted, "Wake up so I can get out of here! I gotta pee."

Kate laughed as a drone came around behind her. Jane caught sight of it and raised her gun to fire but Kate swung her pistol around and smashed it against the face. Its eyes flashed and the buzzer sounded.

"Huh," She said, "I guess it does count."

Jane smiled widely, "Let's go see how we did?" She held her arm up gentlemanly.

Kate slung her pistol and put a hand over her chest in a breathless pose with her mouth forming a shy 'O' before taking said arm.

Jane laughed as they walked out to find Colin with a nice sized grin on his face but Jane could tell that there was something on his mind.

"Well congratulations. You were the only team that didn't suffer a loss." He said with a lot of satisfaction, "I'd go through a bunch of fun things about Griggs mourning his sniper but your boy Oswald called about five minutes after you went in."

Kate glanced at Jane who had the decency not to give her away.

"What did he say?" Kate asked.

He grinned and Kate didn't like it one bit. "He and a bunch of guys from his platoon got together and searched the post garbage center on his own initiative. Said he found something you two Sergeants ought to see but he wouldn't say what. Now I don't know what you did to this kid but he's bucking for Sergeant."

Jane sputtered trying to keep her laughter in as she looked at Kate, _he said bucking._

Kate narrowed her eyes,_ don't start._

Jane grinned wide, showing of her dimples. Kate turned back to Colin, "Apparently we made an impression."

Jane snorted again as she covered her mouth and headed to the RUV.

He watched Jane walk away before raising an eyebrow at Kate, "One night with you and she's no longer sullen." He joked.

Kate closed her eyes and took a deep breath before she grinned evilly at him and put a hand on his stomach. "Imagine what I can do without clothes."

She walked away and could've sworn she heard his jaw fall open but refused to look back as she climbed into the passenger seat. Jane fired the machine up and drove away.

* * *

><p><strong>Building 063 – Maintenance Shed<strong>

Oswald smiled as he saw the Commander driving up to his building again. Memories from last night assailed him as Kate climbed out of the RUV, followed closely by Jane. He stood up and slipped on his BDU shirt and buttoned it quickly.

With a big smile Jane called out to him, "Hey there, Eugene!"

Another glare from Kate, "One more time Rizzoli and I'll encourage Colin's wild imagination about this morning."

She whispered to her, "You already did. It's my imagination you should worry about."

"Okay Corporal," Kate said ignoring her partner, "What do you have for us?"

He reached behind the desk and pulled out a garbage bag, "I got a couple of guys together and we searched the post garbage station figuring that we could find the can that stuff came from. We found it but we found some other things too." He set the garbage bag on the table and grinned again.

They looked at each other and Jane pulled blue gloves out of her leg pocket.

Kate looked at her, "Do you keep a store of them around or something?"

"Don't you?" Jane said nonchalantly as she slipped them on and opened the bag.

The first thing she pulled out was a single gallon square metal can label 'slick hull'. She set it on the desk and went back into the bag. She fished around and found a few napkins, some gloves and a black flip phone. She opened it up and turned it on. It lit up and then died.

"No juice but it works." Kate said

Jane looked carefully at the gloves and noted the white smudges on it. Flaky white smudges. She smiled to Oswald as she examined the napkins. A few had more flake but not all. She dug into the bag one more time and came out with a phone number wrote on a slip of paper.

"I get the can but where did you find the rest of this?" She asked as she put it all back in the bag.

He scratched his head, "That's the thing. Everything in that bag was in that bag when we found it. I'm not a detective so I wasn't sure what would be important so I just took the whole bag."

Jane smiled at him, "Nice work Oswald, good thinking about taking the whole bag but were you guys wearing gloves when you were looking?"

"Yes Sergeant," he said with a grin, "We may be a bunch of farm boys but we still tend to wear gloves when we dumpster dive." His voice was playful and made Jane grin.

"Damn fine soldiering." She said and looked to her partner, "I'll just give you two an awkward moment." She said as she headed back to the RUV and put the bag in back.

Kate shook her head at Jane before turning back to Oswald, "Sorry about that, she woke up in an awkward position this morning, been cranky ever since."

"I got battle buddies like that, doesn't matter what position they wake up in."

Kate smiled at him remembering last night. He smiled too and blushed a little.

"So, I had a lot of fun last night and I was wondering if we could get together again before you leave."

She grabbed his shirt and jerked him to her. His open-mouthed shock worked in her favor as she let her tongue enter his mouth. As soon as he started to respond she shoved him. He liked the idea of a woman in control and she was more than happy to play the part.

He stood frozen for a second before she turned away and headed back to the RUV. Over her shoulder she said, "Same time and place tonight."

His open-mouthed expression turned damn near giddy with excitement as she climbed in to the RUV and Jane drove them away.

* * *

><p><strong>Provost Marshal's Office<strong>

With more blue gloves on Jane plugged the charger into the cell phone as Colin called ISP to get a hold of Inspector Rollins. Jane let the phone sit on the table as she carefully emptied the bag onto the table. The can, the napkins, the gloves and the phone number, as well as a throw away coffee cup, a receipt from The Shield and a takeout container were spread out for examination. Elliot leaned over with a pen and carefully opened the white Styrofoam box. A half-eaten hoagie was all that remained inside.

He closed the lid and reached it, trying not to think about what was crawling in there. Jane picked up the receipt and looked at it carefully.

"A hoagie and fries, two domestic beers and a well shot," She said.

Kate dug into Jane's cargo pocket and came out with a set of gloves.

"Hey!" Jane barked at her, "Go rip off the medics like I did."

Kate smiled as she slipped her hands in and started poking through the items. The foam coffee cup had dried up tobacco spit in the bottom, "Men are so disgusting sometimes."

Elliot looked in the cup and nodded, "Yep, some of us are."

Liv looked and regretted it, "So much for lunch."

Colin came out of his office and looked into the cup, "I hate spitters."

Elliot started chuckling at Colin's unintended reference.

"How old are you?" His partner asked.

"Old enough to know better but sometimes I can't help it." He said as he composed his face.

Kate set the cup down and picked up the phone number, "So who wants to make this call and find out who this is?"

Colin looked at it and grimaced. "Don't bother; it's Specialist Hill's cell phone number."

Jane went back to the cell phone and turned it on without unplugging it, "So what did Andy Griffith say?"

"He's on his way down." Colin smiled as he looked back and forth to Jane and Kate, "He asks, politely I might add, for you to not do anything until he gets here."

Jane nodded as she scrolled through the phone. "Contact list is empty and so is the inbox. No pictures."

The phone chirped and vibrated in her hand. She keyed the new message and stared. "Wow."

Kate looked over her shoulder, "Damn."

Jane held the phone up to Liv and Elliot. "I think this is your department."

Elliot shook his head as Liv looked, "How old do you think she is?"

"Early twenties," She said, "I don't believe she's illegal but without a name to run a history..."

Jane scrolled down and read the text out loud, "Something to help you pass the night without me, can't wait to feel you inside me again."

It vibrated again. She opened the message. "More triple X nude pics, this one said missing your strong hands and other strong things."

Another message, "Jeez, this girl ought to be selling these pics."

She stopped as she read the text, "LeBron, Why haven't you called me? Did Donald find out? I'm worried, call me please."

"And there you have it," Elliot said, "LeBron was messing around with someone's wife."

Kate looked at him, "How do you know that?"

Liv pointed at the phone, "Show me a man with two phones and I'll show you a man who's cheating."

"If Ellis was having an affair with another cop's wife that would be one helluva motive for murder," Kate said.

Jane nodded, "The oldest one in the book."

She went to the murder board and running a finger over a page she settled on a name, "Only Donald from Detroit is Donald Richardson, Detroit Police. Let me make a phone call before Rollins gets here."

Quickly scrolling through her contacts she settled on a number and called, "Hey Frost. I need a favor."

"No, I'm in the finals. Put me down for fifty, something over 470 points… Kay, good man. I need a background on a Donald Richardson, Detroit Police. Badge number," she looked at the page again. "5774… Frost I know. That's why it's called a favor. Okay, call me back."

She hung up and looked at them, "My partner's a computer guy so he'll have something soon."

Colin wiped his face with his hand. "Then I guess we're just waiting around."

Elliot nodded and pulled up a chair to a desk, "Anyone got any cards?"

Within a few minutes, they were centered around a game of Texas Hold'em.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Muse says a phonecall from home and a few details and we can head back to the fun so stay tuned. <strong>_


	13. Chapter 13

_**Ugh, what a week. I'm telling you that writing is the only thing that gets me through. So here you go Chapter 13. My Muse says 14 should be about the CQB round 5. We'll see what I can do.**_

_**Z- Nice job on this and thank you for clearing up some fuzz on this one. I appreciate it greatly.**_

_**As usual any remaining mistakes are mine alone.**_

* * *

><p>Rollins listened to NYB and SVU as they laid out their theory and their evidence, within a few minutes Rollins was calling for some troopers to assist in the search of Ft. Justice for Officer Richardson for the purpose of questioning him. He turned over their evidence to the Springfield Crime scene Investigators. NYB managed to convince him to allow them to assist on the interview, which he wasn't too sure of since Jane and Kate suspected that Richardson had something to do with the live fire incident in the CQB.<p>

SVU went back through their interviews and headed back to Building 121 for some follow-up interviews. Colin had Davison go with them to announce Liv's presence in the all-male building.

Liv sat in the backseat of Davison's RUV as he drove them across the base. She sat flipping through the notebook she had meticulously penned in. When she came across the section she was looking for she ran her finger along her notes.

"El," Her partner broke off his conversation and looked back at her, "Who was the last person in the shower before Ellis died?"

He picked up Jane's notebook and flipped through it, "Jane said that a Detective Allen from Atlanta reported his use at around 8:30 for about 15 minutes."

Liv stared off in the distance. "That doesn't make sense."

"What?" Davison asked.

She looked at them, "It doesn't take 45 minutes for steam to dry on the tiles. In my bathroom it only takes maybe fifteen."

Stabler looked at her, "I've never noticed."

"Trust me, it's a woman thing." She said, "We keep our bathrooms clean and you don't spray Lysol on the wall right after a shower. You have to wait for it to dry or dry it yourself."

"And Lysol has to do with this because…" Davison said.

"Jane and Kate both said this stuff looks like soap scum when it hits a wet surface so if our guy was after Ellis wouldn't it have made sense to wait till it was dry?"

"Maybe he didn't want to risk getting caught," Elliot said. "He got in a rush and set up the shower room before it was dry."

"If he knew when Ellis was coming back then he'd have the time to wait. According to his co-workers, he always headed to the shower after the morning games. He certainly wouldn't spray the shower forty five minutes early and risk someone else using it."

Davison looked at her, "So you're saying that either the killer sprayed down the bathroom 45 minutes earlier than Ellis went in or…"

"Or someone else was in that shower room before Ellis got there," She finished. "Someone bathed in there before our killer applied the hull lube to the tile work."

Elliot looked at Davison and then back to Liv, "We're missing a person."

"Couldn't that be our Killer?" Davison asked.

"Would you wash up in a shower you were going to use to kill someone?" Stabler asked.

Davison looked back at him, "Good point. If I had that much time, I'd set it up early so it didn't turn into that white stuff."

"So would I," Stabler agreed. "We're missing someone from the building."

Liv looked at the building roster again. "We've talked to everybody on the li..." She paused as she saw something she had dismissed a hundred times before. "Jane."

Elliot looked back at her, "What about her?"

She held the sheet up to him, "Room 204, Sergeant Brian Hill, Boston Police."

"He didn't show," Davison said.

"He was injured in a motorcycle accident in Boston," She said loudly, "Jane took his place."

Davison pulled the RUV over to the side of the road and looked back at her, "Jane Rizzoli filled in his slot?"

"Yes," She said, "This list isn't up to date. We're missing someone and we need to compare this list with reservations."

"I can do one better," Davison pulled out his cell phone and called the Quartermaster's office, the one person on post who was responsible for all the rooms and equipment on post. "Wentz, it's Davison, I need your list for Building 121. Yes, the guest list. I'm working a case and I need that list to compare with reservations. I don't care if Guest Services will bitch, I got a dead guy and I need to find who made him dead."

He turned the RUV around and headed in the opposite direction. "Okay I'll be there in a minute."

* * *

><p><strong>Dining Facility (DFAC) – 16:00 hours<strong>

Although the military DFAC was more like a High School lunch line, Springfield Arms completely remodelled it to serve as the premier base restaurant. Huge by any restaurant standards the facility could take on almost half of the LETO guest list at a time. Although some preferred to head to The Shield or various vendors that set up shop on post during the event, most people came to the DFAC. The menu was selected long before the event and Breakfast, lunch and dinner were prepared in mass quantity similar to the Military standard but in addition to having a short order line, there was also a noticeable menu selection for specific orders, just like in a restaurant.

Cincinnati Police Officer David Maloney had just received his order of lemon baked chicken breast and stir fry, He had thought about ordering from the menu but found that the DFACs specials of the day had always been top notch. No surprise because for two weeks a year, Springfield Arms hired some of the best chefs in the country to cook in their state of the art kitchen.

Today, Chef had put out his best and Maloney intended to savor it.

He had just taken his first bite of the juicy, tender filet of chicken when a woman sat down next to him. He turned to see a woman in her forties but very attractive. She had a thicker build than some but her arms hinted that it was from exercise, not excess. Her curves were made of lean muscle but as far as he could tell, not overly.

Her face was striking with full pouty lips and deep mocha colored eyes. She used a finger to tuck her reddish brown hair behind one ear. He recognized her immediately as one of the people who had been looking into the shower accident.

"I was wondering if you were ever going to come to talk to me." He said after he'd swallowed the food. "To be honest, I expected you days ago."

She smiled at him and it was a disarming smile that he liked, "Then why didn't you come see me?"

His smile tipped into a grin as he wiped his mouth. "Honestly?"

"Please," She said with those pouty lips.

"I'm Patrol," He said nonchalantly, "I figured you'd come to me when you wanted something."

"And here I am," She said and turned her smile up. "So I guess you know why I'm here?"

"Well I have the reasons I'd like to think about but I have a feeling it's business; Homicide Detectives don't usually bother with Patrol."

"Well then you should know that I'm not Homicide," She took a glass of water from the table and held it up, "Do you mind?"

Maloney shook his head, "Be my guest."

She sipped at his water and set it down on the table, "I'm not Homicide but I am here about the murder."

He looked at her oddly, "Murder? I heard it was a slip and fall."

"That's what rumors will get you." She smiled again and it reached all the way to her eyes, "So I was going over my interview list and found something striking. Do you know what it was?"

He nodded, "I'm guessing that my room was listed under a Boston Sergeant."

"That's right." She put an elbow on the table and propped her head in her hand, "But did you know that you were not the first person who stayed in that room this year?"

He grinned back at her, "I don't suppose this would have to do with the long black curly hair I found on the blanket, would it?"

She smiled warmly, "My friend Jane is from Boston. Can you believe they put her in that room?"

He shook his head, "What were they thinking; a female in an all-male building."

"Worse yet, being forced to use a communal shower," She tsked.

"Yeah, it didn't make a lot of sense," He folded his napkin and set it on the table, "So now that we've done the nice thing and your partner over there is relaxing, what can I do for you."

"So you've heard about the slip and fall in the shower?" She asked.

"Been hard not to." He picked up his knife and fork and sliced of a thin slice off the delicious meat, "It's been the talk of the building."

"So did you use the shower that day?" She asked, her eyes turned serious and he could feel them probing him.

"Yes, I did." He said, "I used the shower that morning after my morning run, about nine or nine fifteen." He placed the food in his mouth and chewed politely.

"Interesting," She said knowingly, "Then why haven't you said anything about it?"

He swallowed and looked at her, "I thought it was an accident."

"But you knew we were looking into it." She shook her head, "You must have known that we would want any info we could find."

"As I said," He set down his fork and stared into those beautiful mocha eyes, "I thought it was an accident; a slip and fall in the shower. If I had known it was a murder than I most definitely would have said something to someone. So how did he die?"

"He slipped and fell in the shower, cracked his head open."

"Then how is that murder?"

Liv eyed him with suspicion, his pleasant tone was smooth and unhurried, "When the bathroom is coated in a lubricant, we tend to think murder."

He stared at her then. "It wasn't coated in lubricant when I used it."

"Well, it sure was when he got into it." She said. "So I suppose there are two possibilities. One is that you sprayed the shower room down with a lubricant or someone came in after you."

"An innocent man would profusely claim the second and you wouldn't believe him anyway so what next?"

"Tell me about Slick Hull." She said.

"Forgive me for asking but is that some kind of personal lubricant or something?"

She laughed, "It does sound like it doesn't it?"

He laughed too, "I've never heard of it. What's it used for?"

"You're a smart guy, think about it, Slick Hull." He watched her mouth make the words.

"Must have something to do with race cars," He stopped and thought about it, "How about race Boats."

"See?" She said with that smile again, "That wasn't so hard."

He nodded, "Okay Detective, Tell me what I can really do for you."

"You were using the shower around nine to nine fifteen. Did you see anyone else in the building at that time?"

He sat back and thought about it for a while, "Yes, I saw one of those Detroit cops in the building. He was carrying a white spray container, one of those pump-up jobs."

"How did you know he was a Detroit cop?"

"His shirt," He said nonchalantly, "He had a Made in Detroit shirt on with Detroit police on the back. I thought it was odd because Made in Detroit is a brand created by Kid Rock."

"Really?" She said softly.

"I only know that because I was working a concert he did in Cincinnati last summer. I thought it was a neat idea but I had no idea that the Detroit Police had those shirts for their officers. Kinda makes me feel left out, I mean where are our Rascal Flats T shirts?"

She smiled and nodded, "A terrible injustice."

He laughed, "Not really; I like pop more than country."

She held her hand up and the guy who was sitting behind him handed her some photos. She laid them out on the table, "Care to do the honors?"

He looked over each one and pointed to the last one, "That's him and yes I'm sure."

"Thank you Maloney, you've been very helpful." She smiled that million dollar smile again.

He took another bite from his meal, "So I don't suppose when this is over, I could get you away for a drink or a meal?"

She smiled and he was beginning to see how she got information out of her suspects, "I think my girlfriend might have an issue with that."

He shook his head, "It figures, I finally meet a nice woman and she's involved. But this is the first time for me to hit on a woman who wouldn't be interested in me at all."

She patted him on the shoulder, "Oh, a nice man like you should be beating them off with a stun baton."

"Not really, the only number I got this week, I lost in the very shower room that you and I were talking about. She's a medic."

"Pretty blond with a nice chest?" She asked nonchalantly. "I know her. You got her number and then lost it?"

He shook his head in dismay, "Yep, I run by the Medic station every morning and every morning I find her and her friend standing outside with coffee. Thought I'd try my luck since they go back in after I pass them."

"So go back and get it again," She said. "I'm sure she would understand."

He shook his head, "Women like that, all you get is one chance and I blew it by losing the number."

She shook her head as she rose, "I think you should try again but, that's just my opinion."

He watched as she walked away followed by the tall man who had been watching them.

He shook his head, "Girlfriend, what a shame no man could keep her happy." He returned to his meal and thought about the blonde medic. She was right and he decided that if she was out again tomorrow, he'd try again.

* * *

><p><strong>Provost Marshall's Office – 18:00 hours<strong>

Officer Donald Richardson came in escorted by two MPs and an Illinois State Trooper. Standing at 5'10" of semi muscular standing, he was indignant as all hell about being pulled out of whatever activity he had been in.

He looked at the group of people standing around the desk and glared indignantly. "What the hell am I doing here? I have a plane to catch."

"Heading back to Detroit a little early?" Jane asked suspiciously as she eyed him.

"You're booked up until Sunday." Kate added while looking through the file Frost had faxed over.

Elliot leaned on the desk arms crossed, "Let me guess, big Memorial Day family trip."

Rollins eyed them all with an odd look.

"Hey," Richardson said defensively, "I don't have to explain to you my plans."

"So I talked to your wife, Alesha." Liv said nonchalantly. "She said that she didn't know of any Memorial Day plans. In fact, she said that you wouldn't be back until Sunday."

Rollins indicated the empty chair in front of them. "Have a seat please officer. We just have a few questions for you, if you don't mind."

"I do mind." He said sharply, "I don't have to answer your questions especially to a bunch of off duty cops."

Jane caught the nervousness and his increasing agitation.

"Actually," Colin said as he sat down in a chair and crossed his arms. "I'm authorized by Springfield Arms to procure Special Investigators for any crime committed that requires more than a ticket. These four Detectives are moonlighting."

"And private security doesn't mean Police." Richardson said.

"True and Illinois law requires that a private security organization like mine is required to have an officer of the city, county or state police on hand in any official holding and I see two troopers from ISP here. May I introduce Criminal Investigator Rollins from the Illinois State Police?"

"As I said, we have a few questions, the quicker you help us find out what happened to Officer Ellis the faster you can catch that plane home."

Richardson sat down in the chair and looked at them, "I heard LeBron Ellis slipped and fell in the shower. It's a shame, he was a good cop."

Kate pulled a small picture out of the file and handed it to Liv. She nodded and held it up. "Do you know this woman?"

"Don't you?" he growled angrily, "You talked to her this morning or so you claim."

Liv looked at the picture again. It was a blow up from the cell phone Oswald recovered. "I thought so but this picture doesn't look much like her profile picture on the internet." Kate handed over the picture. Liv looked at it and held it up. It was a typical photo one might find on any kind of Social media. She handed both photos to Jane.

Jane looked at them, "Doesn't look much like her at all." She set both pictures down on the desk in front of him, "Do we have a better picture?"

Kate shuffled through the file and handed her a more expanded version of the profile picture. She nodded, "This looks better. But I think the boat kind of takes away the effect." She sat the picture down, "Is that your boat?"

He glared at her, "It was. I sold it this year."

Elliot looked down at the picture. Alesha Richardson sat in the pilot's seat of a speed boat. Judging by the fact that it had seatbelts El would say that it was built for racing.

He whistled, "Man that thing looks fast. Was it a Scarab?"

"Fountain," Richardson said and there was something in his voice, "My wife was a nurse and when she quit her job we sold it."

Jane looked at him curiously, "Why did she quit her job?"

He ground his teeth lightly, "She got pregnant and wanted to stay home for the baby."

"On a cop's salary?" El shook his head and twisted his wedding ring around his finger, "Man, I sympathize. I've got three and my wife always stays home for the last four months of pregnancy and the first year after the birth. We live in New York City where everything is expensive."

"Quit getting her pregnant." Liv said to her partner, "It's that simple."

He shrugged as he looked at her, "My wife is beautiful."

Jane took the cue, "Not unlike Richardson's wife here." She said as she looked over the boat photo again, "She's an attractive woman and a nurse? You did well, didn't you?"

He ground his teeth again, "Yeah, I did okay."

Kate caught the grinding too and leaned in to look into his eyes. "Why are you lying?"

He stared at her, "Lying about what?"

"You're not happy with your wife." She said quietly, thoughtfully, "Having marriage problems?"

His look turned from anger to rage and he tried to get up. The MP stopped him. "None of this has to do with Ellis so we're done talking here."

Kate opened the file again and pulled out the fully nude picture of Alesha Richardson. "Actually it has a lot to do with Ellis especially since your wife was having an affair with him." She set the photo down in front of him. She could tell by the way his eyes changed that she had hit his flash point.

He looked at the picture and his face turned red. "Where did you get that?!" He shouted and started wrestling with the MPs.

Jane smiled and deliberately agitated him, "We got it from Ellis' phone; the one that you dumped in the garbage." He stopped struggling and stared at her, "Not the one in his room that he talks to _his_ wife on, the one that had its memory cleared that he talked to _your _wife on."

Kate shook her head as she pulled the next photo, "Funny thing is when we turned it on a hand full of these selfies came through with some juicy texts." Alesha was completely nude and posed on her hands and knees. The photo was taken from above her head.

He saw red then and lurched towards Jane and Kate. It took both MPs the Trooper and Colin to hold him down. "Fuck you, you bitch. I'll kill you!"

Jane smirked, "Like you did in the CQB? In case you didn't notice," she held a hand out to Kate, "We're still here."

He roared with pure rage, "I'll kill you myself, no machine this time! You should have stayed out of it!" His face contorted in fury and his eyes were murderous as he struggled against the trooper who was cuffing him.

Rollins raised an eyebrow, _they got him to admit to trying to kill them._ All they needed was either an admission to killing Ellis or enough evidence to prove it. But neither woman was satisfied with that, they wanted motive.

"Sorry ass excuse for a man," Kate said, "Can't kill someone face to face. He has to rely on either a machine or some cheap boat wax to kill someone. What happened, did we turn down some sorry ass excuse for a pick up line?"

"He's been fucking my wife and knocked her up!" He shouted, "He slips on some lube in the shower and you two couldn't leave it alone."

"I didn't say lube." Kate said with a grin, "I said cheap boat wax."

"Wow," Jane smarted off to him, "You just fucked yourself royally buddy. How does it feel to set yourself up for murder 1?"

Jane nodded to Rollins, "I think we're done here Inspector."

Kate nodded, "He's all yours."

Colin stepped up to the ISP investigator and shook his hand, "My MPs are real MPs and they would be more than happy to assist your Trooper with the transfer."

Rollins nodded to the trooper and the MPs and they hauled Richardson away.

He looked back at the visitors from the East Coast and nodded, "Confession and Motive on both yourselves and Ellis. Nice work but I'd feel better if we had opportunity too."

Liv smiled, "We already established opportunity once we had motive. A patrolman from Cincinnati used the shower room before Ellis. He was the one who gave us our time frame. We missed him on the initial interviews because he wasn't listed as being in the building due to an unfortunate oversight in Reservations. After my partner and I questioned him, he remembered that he seen a cop from Detroit coming up the stairs as he was heading back to his room."

"How did he know it was Richardson?" Rollins asked.

"We can account for every officer from Detroit with the exception of Richardson within the time frame and Officer Maloney stated that the Detroit Police t-shirt was very distinctive." Elliot said as he sat back down on the desk. "The t-shirt said 'Made in Detroit'. Since that was something he seen at a Kid Rock concert he worked last summer he recognized it and thought it was odd, he watched as Richardson turned down the hallway and saw Detroit Police Department on the back."

Liv added three pictures to the table, "We showed him these pictures and he picked out Richardson."

"We were closing in on him when Kate and Jane brought the evidence." Elliot said, "It was a good thing Colin hired us to help Kate and Jane. With more than half of the guests leaving tomorrow for Memorial Weekend our time table was too short. We were able to work multiple angles simultaneously."

Rollins shook his head and held his hand out to Jane, "I believe I owe you an apology."

Jane shook it and grimaced, "No man, you owe us some beers at The Shield."

"You're one of those cops that always pushes it, aren't you?" He asked with a grin.

"Every friggin' day," she said, "I'm Italian. I know no limits."

He laughed as he shook Kate's hand, "You were right, it was a mistake to brush you two off."

Kate nodded, "Sorry about going around you on this one but Colin is a friend and we don't leave our friends hanging."

He nodded as he went to Elliot, "Nice work Detective." They shook hands.

"Hope this never happens again and Jane is right, you do owe us a round."

He smiled, nodded, and turned to Liv, "Detective, it's been a pleasure."

She didn't say anything just smiled and gripped his hand. Jane handed him the file they had accumulated on the murder and he nodded again.

"Sorry this happened and I hope you all have a better weekend." He turned and walked out.

Jane waited and once the door closed she looked back at her friends. "He still couldn't find his ass with two hands."

Kate laughed, "If I remember correctly, didn't he say this was an accident?"

Colin nodded quietly.

"Well," Elliot said, "I think it's beer o'clock."

Jane looked to Liv, "It's so unsatisfying not putting them in lock up."

She nodded. "Yep, but at least it's done." She sighed heavily, "So the only battle left is to whip you two in the CQB."

Jane looked at her, "Babe, you're facing the Varsity team here. You better bring your A game."

Liv smiled brightly as she pulled the younger woman under her arm, "Honey, if you want to compare us with those analogies, you're Junior Varsity and we're College Pro."


	14. Chapter 14

_ **Here it is. The final round of the CQB complete with paly by play of each team. I had a lot of fun writing this and I'm sure Z had a lot of fun beta-ing it. So here we go. Hope you enjoy it to. Scratched my head for a week on this and assembled it on Friday.**_

_**As always, all remaining mistakes are mine. Z- I put that "Yer" back in because it's an Irish thing.**_

* * *

><p><strong>CQB Pavilion 0900 Hours<strong>

Jane leaned into the table conspiratorially, "Is it me or does Griggs seem unusually happy this morning?"

Liv looked over the younger woman's shoulder, "He probably got laid last night."

"That's not a sex smile," Elliot said, "That's a pleased with himself smile."

"Like he just got one over on somebody," Jane agreed, "He's cooked up something and he's happy as all get out about it."

"And why does that make me nervous?" Kate asked in an overly nervous tone.

"It kinda bothers me too." Jane said.

Elliot nodded, "This should be fun."

"Interesting at least," Liv added.

Colin rolled up a few minutes later followed closely by a man in camouflage riding a Yamaha Banshee. While the quad rolled off to the side of the pavilion, Colin parked his Street Stalker right underneath the pavilion. He smiled warmly to his friends and stripped off his helmet. He climbed off his bike and hung his helmet on the handle bar. The man also stripped of his helmet and immediately pulled a black beret out of his pocket and stuck it cleanly to his head. Two silver bars adorned the shield on the front of the military cover.

"SVU, NYB," he addressed them, "Good morning and welcome to the CQB Final round."

He sat side saddle on his bike and clasped his hands together as they awaited him to brief them.

"So since you are all aware of the difficulties this year, particularly with the live rounds that were loaded into Bluto over there," he waved a hand at the battle damaged drone that stood in front of the service door, "It took us two and a half days to put the CQB back in order and you are all aware that this had an effect on our scheduled time table. Since you all agreed to rerun round four we had something of a mix up in our plans for you for round five."

The Army Captain watched them carefully as Colin continued, "The sniper was supposed to be in round five but we only had enough functioning drones to run that scenario we were forced to give it to you a round early. This put us at the CQB in kind of a pickle as to what we were going to put together for you for round five."

He stood up and smiled, "I'm sure you noticed how happy Griggs is today."

The sergeant lifted his head and smiled, it was almost eerie.

"It's because I asked him to select the final round for you." He shook his head, "I have to admit that even I underestimated his diabolical nature. Since the awards ceremony is scheduled for noon today, we are truncating the round and running both teams simultaneously. The CQB has been split into two halves and the scenario is identical in every way with one sole exception. The lay outs are mirrored."

"'Mirrored'," Jane said.

"Yes." He said as he cleared his throat, "You will be entering through the hangar door. One team will follow the hallway to the left, the other to the right. The exit door at the rear of the building is blocked so there is no way out. It's a gun fight to the end. You either take out the drones or they take you out. The final round is a fight to the proverbial death and that is all I am at liberty to disclose about the round."

"So, who is this?" Elliot said as he nodded to the Captain.

"I'm glad you asked that, Stabler." He stood up tall, "This is Captain James Marcus from Fort Benning. He specializes in CQB gunfights and hand to hand combat. He has been asked by myself, Colonel Sanchez, and Mr. Huff to personally observe the CQB final round. Mr. Huff wants to show off our little playground. Colonel Sanchez wants to make sure that no one can cry foul, and I asked for an impartial judge because both teams stay under my roof."

Jane looked at Kate, "Always to protect the integrity of the games."

Kate nodded and Colin scoffed at her, "You don't want to be stuck in the barracks next year do you, Jane."

"Hell no, I like my little room." She said with a grin.

"Good. Then no one has an issue with both myself and Griggs stepping away from the console, so to speak?"

They all motioned in confirmation and acceptance.

Colin dug in to his pocket and produced a large coin, "Since SVU is the reigning partnership champions the call goes to them. Left or right, heads or tails."

Elliot looked at Liv, "Right side."

"Tails." She replied.

She nodded and Colin held out the coin. "Sir, would you do the honors?"

Captain Marcus nodded and took the coin. He rolled it between his knuckles and flipped it almost to the ceiling. He caught it cleanly and slapped it down on his the back of his other palm with a loud smack. Stepping forward so all could see he removed the hand covering the coin.

"Heads," He said. "NYB take the left side, SVU to the right."

"Alright then," he said jovially, "Suit up, collect your magazines and stand ready for the final battle."

Jane was the last in line right behind Kate. Griggs handed her six magazines, of which she promptly shoved the first in place into her pistol and holstered it. The remaining five she slipped into the back loops of her vest.

They took positions near the door and were greeted by Captain Marcus.

"Just so you are aware. There is a cat walk on top of the divider that separates the two teams. I will be up there observing both sides. Do not shoot at me or you _will_ be disqualified."

They nodded their understanding and he walked inside the CQB through the service door. Two minutes later the light at the service door started blinking its count down. When the buzzer sounded, the huge hangar doors opened four feet and they entered. As soon as the last person was in, they closed with a loud clang. It took both teams a second to adjust to the darkness.

Jane looked at Liv and nodded, "Good luck."

Liv smiled, "You too." They headed off in separate directions.

* * *

><p><strong>CQB Round Five: SVU Team<strong>

They made it all of about five yards when the first drone came out a small door. Elliot popped a round in its face and it retreated back the way it came.

Liv sighted her gun down the hall and clicked on her laser sight. A small red dot appeared at the end of the hallway. She carefully stepped forward with Elliot behind her.

"Keep an eye on our backs."

"Always do." He said as he glanced over his shoulder.

Liv made it to the end of the hall and a pair of drones came out of false offices. She put the red dot on one and fired. Splashed in green paint it shut down and folded up. She sighted the other one and pulled the trigger. Nothing happened.

She slammed against the wall and shouted, "Cover!"

Elliot ducked behind the corner as the drone fired.

Liv, flat against the wall racked her weapon. She was terribly exposed as the drone closed on her. She re sighted the dot on its face and pulled. Her Glock coughed once and the drone shut down and retreated. The folded drone also retreated back into the office.

"Clear." She said and Elliot joined her.

"What the hell was that?" He said as he eyed her weapon.

"No fire." She pulled her flashlight and shined it on the floor. She found the round she ejected and picked it up. She shined it on the rim and found a neat hole where the firing pin had hit the Center pin of the round. She flipped it over and looked at the bullet.

"It's a plastic shaft." She said, "It's a dummy round."

Elliot slid his mag out and looked at it. He could see the gel round encased in thin plastic. "Guess the next question is: how many bad rounds did we get?"

As a drone rolled into the hallway, Liv fired again. "Don't know but we don't have time to check!" She fired off two more rounds at the drones that kept coming.

Elliot stepped in front of her partner and blasted away. "Let's hope we don't get one at the same time."

* * *

><p><strong>CQB Round Five: NYB Taskforce Team<strong>

They retreated down the hallway and around the corner. Kate fell in behind Jane who swung her left arm around the wall and started shooting. Green paint splattered drones in the face as the wave continued.

Suddenly her pistol stopped working. "Switch!"

Without another word Kate swung around and with her back to the corner, stretched her right arm out around the corner and fired. Jane racked her weapon and caught the round that came out. Seeing the plastic tip she pocketed it and grabbed her partner.

"Check your mag," She said as she resumed her place.

Since it was a right hand corner, Jane being left handed could hold the area better than Kate could with her chest pressed against the wall where Kate had to essentially fire one handed over behind her or expose her entire right side to shoot.

Kate pulled her mag and looked at the paint encasing bullets. "What am I looking for?"

Jane pulled the round out with her right hand and held it up. Kate took it and cursed; "Griggs put dummies in there."

"Clear them out and hook me up."

Kate immediately started yanking rounds out of her mag and found two plastic blanks inside, "Two in mine."

Jane cursed and racked her weapon before going back to shoot again. "Hope it's only two per."

Kate finished with the mag and yanked a fresh one off of Jane's back. She replaced it with the clean one. "Right one clean."

She ran through the magazines as quickly as she could, removing round after round until she found two duds right next to each other. She reloaded the magazine and as Jane pulled the clean one out she replaced it. It took her a few minutes to run through Jane's mags but in the end she had found nine duds.

Jane paused and looked down the hall. No more drones came out. She pulled a clean mag out and handed it to her partner. Kate replaced the one in her Glock with the clean one and Jane stepped back.

Kate too up a firing position and Jane went to work on her partner's magazines. It was risky and would kill their time but with a look, both of them agreed that neither wanted to head any further until it was dealt with. It was a risk on their points but it was riskier than needing a shot and not having one.

* * *

><p><strong>CQB Control Room<strong>

As Colin watched on the monitor he nodded his approval.

"That's the difference," He said to Griggs. "Elliot and Liv should be doing the same thing but instead they're pushing on."

"They'll clean out the kill house faster that way." He said as he pointed to the monitor, "they're almost up to the stairwell."

"I'll be surprised if they both make it out without taking some hits." He said, his brogue getting thick again, "SVU have been partners for ten years and they're great together but NYB functions like they've always been together."

"I bet you a steak dinner that SVU doesn't take a single hit." He said as he held his hand up.

"Yer' on, Lad." Colin said, slapping the hand.

* * *

><p><strong>SVU Team<strong>

Elliot cursed as he pulled the trigger and found another blank. He stepped back from the stair well and yanked on the slide. He looked into the chamber and verified that he had a legitimate round going in as he let go. The slide locked in place and he rose up to fire but found that Liv had already taken out the drone on the second floor.

"This is getting old, fast." He cursed.

Liv's weapon barked and then nothing. She racked it back and looking in found a second dud. She immediately pulled the trigger and racked the weapon again. "We should get the bad rounds out El."

"Yeah," he said as he spun around and took out a roller that was sneaking up behind them. "Let's find a safe place to do it though."

She nodded, "Ladies first," and she climbed the stairwell.

At the top she found a storm of paint as round after round was discharged at them. She lay down on the steps. Pulling back on the slide she verified a good round and she waited. Elliot did the same but from a standing up position behind her.

Soon a roller was sent to look and she promptly shot it in the heart. As it blinked and retreated. She jumped up and followed it, using it for cover as she methodically fired at the room full of drones. She cursed as her pistol racked and stayed open. She pulled a mag from her belt and ducked behind a desk. She looked and saw a dud behind the first round. She peeled the good one out and shoved it directly into the breach of her weapon and hit the release just in time to see a drone come around the desk. She shot it with her right hand while her left knocked the bad round out of the magazine.

She shoved it in place and hit the release again, not sure whether the third round was any better than the second. She swung around and began shooting as Elliot ran across to the nearest cover, an old copy machine about the size of a desk.

He fired then cursed as he was forced to, again, clear his weapon. He looked up to see Captain Marcus standing on the divider looking down at them with a clipboard. He noted that the captain wasn't looking at the other side of the wall at all.

He shouted to his partner, "Think they're having as much fun as we are?" He said as he sighted up against another drone.

Liv looked up and noted the same thing he had. "They're still trying to figure out why they can't shoot!"

The captain shook his head as he wrote on his clipboard.

With the last drone down Liv quickly stepped up to the door and looked out. They were on the second floor of a warehouse like structure that had a long cat walk that reached to the far wall and descended on a spiral with no workable cover. There was a large sea container not far below and several automotive crates that created a lengthy kill zone for an ambush.

A drone fired at her from the floor and she ducked it. Elliot looked out and gauged the situation.

"Well, this isn't going to be fun." He said.

"Time to clear out our problems," She pulled her still loaded mags and sat down on a desk and began clearing them. Taking good rounds out of one mag and putting them into an empty. It was a lengthy process although they had fewer rounds to do than NYB because of the fire fight. Within a few minutes she had all clean magazines and the empties sat on the desk with the dummy rounds piled up next to them. She kept vigil while Elliot too cleared his magazines of blanks.

She looked up to the Captain and shouted, "Tell Griggs I'm going to make him eat one of these blanks."

He laughed and something caught his eye from the other side of the wall.

She could hear Jane's voice shouting out to her, "Babe, I'm gonna help you!"

There was significant exchange of gunfire that lasted a few minutes. And then the room fell silent again. Elliot nodded his readiness and they stepped out into the cat walk.

* * *

><p><strong>NYB Taskforce Team<strong>

They ascended the stairs slowly and gingerly. Easing around the corner Jane caught sight of the drones. Noises from the far side of the divider had their sensors trained on the wall.

_They're distracted!_ She sent to Kate.

Kate smiled wide as she silently eased up to the corner. They could hear some light sounds coming from the wall. Just some slight tinkling like the kind when a spent shell hits the floor.

_El and Liv are taking out the blanks._ She nodded her amusement.

It had been hell fighting down the hallway and through the small office before getting to the stairs. Neither one could imagine doing it with the blanks still hidden in their ammo.

Jane's head snapped up as she heard Liv holler out what she was going to do with Griggs and the blanks.

Kate nodded her readiness and Jane couldn't help it.

She aimed at the nearest drone and shouted to her friend. "Babe, I'm gonna help you!"

Kate smiled as she opened fire on the drones. It took half of the time to clear out the room as it had SVU mostly due to the blanks but in the end, twelve drones sat on the floor folded up neatly.

Standing next to the divider and looking out the door they saw the cat walk and the spiral staircase.

Jane looked back at Kate, _Hell no!_

_It's a slaughter house._ Kate agreed.

Jane looked around a second before a round nearly hit her in the face. She pulled back.

"Okay," Jane said quietly, "Both teams are caught here so we either try to clear them out from up here…"

Gunfire erupted from the dividing wall and they smirked. It was exactly what SVU was doing.

Kate shook her head, not believing where her thoughts were going, "Or Crazy Bitch can come up with some hare-brained idea on how to get us on the ground."

Jane smiled a dimple exposing grin as she stuck her head out of the room for a second and ducked as a few paint rounds splattered the wall.

_Do you really trust me?_ Jane passed to Kate.

Kate didn't like the look Jane was giving her but she nodded, _With my life._

Jane smiled that maniacal smile again and she stood up and prepared to run out of the office.

Kate readied herself to follow, thinking that this was proverbial suicide as Jane ran three steps out of the office, grabbed the hand rail and vaulted right over the side.

Kate's eyes went wide as she looked down to see Jane rolling off the sea container and onto the floor.

She turned and fired as drones came out of nowhere.

A clipboard fell in front of her as she hauled herself over the side of the cat walk and landed six feet below onto Bruno's box and rolled off to meet her partner.

Jane spun at the sound and was relieved to see Kate turning her back and firing. Jane pressed hers against her partner and they cleaned out the small alleyway. They took their time and got it right as the drones fell again and again. Jane realized that the ones who attacked them were coming out of the metal box so she directed her attention to that.

She pressed her back harder against Kate and her partner took the meaning clearly as she stepped forward. They went through a magazine each as they moved away from the sea container door. Kate quickly exchanged it and regrouped her fire.

Jane made as much of a dent in the drones as she could and just as she was going to round the back of the container Kate shoved her against the wall. Jane lost a shot at a drone and her weapon was empty. Kate fired down her end and quickly caught the one that Jane had missed.

She ducked as another round went flying passed them to smack the wall.

She looked at Jane, "Sniper's back."

Jane cursed and finished off the three drones near the metal door. "This is fun."

Kate chuckled, "You've never had it so good." She said as she rounded the door. With the drones neatly folded up inside the box there was no need to clean it out. She kicked the door shut and it clanged loudly. She latched the door and looked on the wall for the tell-tale track Jane had told her about. She couldn't find it and backed away.

"Can't see it."

Jane scowled and looked around the edge. She caught sight of Sniper as he rounded a pipe between two stacks of crates.

"He's got a different kind of track." She said, "Looks like piping."

Kate scowled as she looked up at the wall. It was covered with piping. "Either he's got a lot of track or Griggs camouflaged it."

Jane swung around and, sighting a drone, she shot it in the head.

* * *

><p><strong>SVU Team<strong>

Liv groaned as she shot again and missed. "I'd give anything for my M-4 right now."

"No kidding." Elliot said as he shot one down.

They paused a second and realized that there was no gunfire from the divider.

"Either they're out or they found a faster way to do this." Elliot said.

She shook her head, "I don't know." She dotted a drone and fired.

He looked out and fired again, "Time to make a break for it."

She patted him on the shoulder, "Go. I'll cover you."

He nodded and ran across the cat walk as fast as his muscular legs could carry him. He caught sight of a roller and fired, his round caught the drone in the eye. After making it across the catwalk he ran his hip along the edge of the rail and took the spiral two steps at a time before he hit the floor and fired at a new group of drones coming out of the sea container.

"Oh shit." He said as he started pumping round after round at them.

He knew he needed to reload and there was virtually no cover but a gunshot from over his head told him that Liv was right behind him. He got a mag ready and when the slide locked he hit the mag release and sent the new one in its place.

His right arm registered the impact and he looked down to see a bright red smear on his shoulder. He shifted his pistol to his left hand and began firing again.

Liv caught the movement of his weapon out of the corner of her eye as she shot down the last drone from the box. They ran around the corner of the sea container and she looked over her partner.

"Two hits to the shoulder," She said. Your right arm is out."

"Yeah I figured that. How are you?"

She did a twirl in front of him and he could see no real hits, "You're clean."

"Okay." She said, "Time to get going." He nodded.

She took his pistol and reloaded it before handing it back, "Remember to call out your reload. I don't want to get DQ'ed for it."

He nodded with a grumble and they headed around the container again.

* * *

><p><strong>NYB Taskforce team<strong>

Kate spun around and slammed her pistol into the face of the drone around the corner. Its red eyes blinked and it collapsed, She fired into the next one and crouched behind the one she "knocked out". Using enemy bodies for cover was a time honored war tradition so she knew she couldn't be reprimanded for it. Jane still stood behind her finding cover behind the giant plastic auto parts crate. Her pistol was trained in the air.

Kate watched as much of the room as she could as she eased forward. She caught sight of a drone rolling away and she fired at it but missed as it turned. She was tempted to go after it but knew that it was more than likely a trap. Griggs had been evilly diabolical in his design of this scenario and Kate wasn't about to underestimate him.

Jane's weapon coughed twice and she cursed. She had missed the sniper. She retrained her weapon and fired again before coming up behind her partner. They were aimlessly roaming the maze of boxes on a mission of seek and destroy. Kate was in charge of the front and Jane being a slightly better shot, was watching both the rear and the sky for the sniper. Kate caught sight of the bastard as he wheeled around the ceiling looking for a shot. She rose up but Jane already had two shots heading for him.

She popped another round at him anyway and he changed directions, running back the other way. Jane tilted her head and shot again. The drone changed directions. Jane smirked as did Kate. They raised their weapons and aimed at a point on either side of the drone and fired. Each time they shot, the drone's room got smaller and smaller until they both landed hits on its face.

The drone shut down and they returned to scanning the area. Jane froze as she heard the drone start up again and streak across the wall towards the divider. It continued straight into it and disappeared through the wall.

"Guess that explains it." She said, "One sniper, two courses."

Kate nodded, "That's why we couldn't find it half the time. It was on the other side." They lowered their weapons and continued to scan the area for more drones.

* * *

><p><strong>SVU team<strong>

Liv fired a round and landed a hit. She fired two more and each one brought down a drone. Elliot fired sparingly so as not to take his partner's attention too often. He shot a drone and watched as it closed up.

Without a word Liv backed up and took his gun. She reloaded it and handed it back. Hearing a sound she didn't recognize she looked around and lost track of it as a pair of rollers came at them from a maze of crates. She turned to face them and they retreated without her firing a shot. She immediately stepped to follow but remembered her partner. She stopped just as a single shot rang out, the paint skimmed her outstretched hand as it smacked loudly into the crate she was standing next to.

The angle suggested an elevated shooter. She looked up but didn't see anything. She backed up slowly and turned in time to see Elliot shoot a drone.

"Told you I got your back."

She smiled and turned in time to see the sniper sight her in. She leapt to the right and before she could yell to Elliot, he spun around and dropped to the floor. The paint round flew over his head and smacked into the cement between his ankles. He was in a prime position and fired a double tap into the sniper drone left handed.

The drone shut down immediately. He looked to his partner.

Liv had slammed herself against a wall of crates and had rattled her brain. Several strands of her hair had broken loose from the tight ponytail and were dangling before her eyes. She blew a breath sharply to clear her vision and realizing that it was her hair she tucked the loose strands under her the arms of her shooting glasses.

El climbed to his feet one armed and scanned the area with his pistol. He watched as three drones roared out of the crates and he and Liv dispatched them quickly.

* * *

><p><strong>NYB Taskforce team<strong>

Kate fired her last bullet at the drone and the lights went out. The buzzer sounded and slat after slat of the dividing wall twisted until there were fifteen panels that slid neatly into a vertical stack on the back wall and the massive hangar doors opened, allowing daylight into the CQB.

Griggs voice came over a PA. _"Okay teams. The exit is the same way you entered. Please head there now."_

Jane spotted Liv and Elliot as they climbed the stairs and headed across the catwalk. She smirked as she saw the bright red smear on his shoulder. He shook his head and tapped his watch.

Walking out into the daylight they found Colin sitting on the picnic table, grinning. He stood up and held a hand out to each of them in turn and shook his head at Jane.

Griggs came over with a cooler and passed out each player's favorite beer. He tossed Colin a Harps Lager and he promptly opened it. The others followed suit and he held his beer out.

"To the successful first year of the CQB. It has been a bumpy one but a success none the less."

Beers were clanked and long pulls were swallowed as he saluted them.

"I'd love to tell you who won but all I can say for certain is that SVU finished three minutes earlier than NYB but El here took a shot in the arm. Captain Marcus is going over the video feeds and statistics right now but he said he will announce the winner at the awards ceremony."

"Then why the beer?" Jane asked.

He smiled, "I saw the video feeds from the control room and all I can really say is that I'm proud to know each of you."

Kate held up her beer, "Well on that note I'd like to officially say that I'm proud as hell of my partner. Even though she's from Boson and even though she's insane," She looked at Jane. "I hope you come back every year so we can do this again and again."

Liv smiled and held her beer against Kate's. "I'll second."

Elliot laughed, "Third." He added his to the pile.

Coin smiled warmly to her, "Welcome to the Rabble, Jane." He said.

Jane eyed the beers and grinned. "Thanks. I'll be back next year so long as the beer's cold and the bed's warm." She knocked her beer hard on top of the four beer necks and laughed as her friends' beers burst into foam and roared out of the bottle's necks.

They cursed at her as she laughed her ass off. "Four at once, that has to be a record somewhere."

Colin shook his head as his hand was covered in spilled beer. He growled at her, "That was dirty as hell Jane." He tried to contain his laughter until he saw Kate with a hand to her mouth, trying not to reveal her amusement.

El tried to keep it from pouring on him as Liv sucked it down like a shot gun. He smiled as he realized that Jane shook them up and you could always count on her doing the unexpected.

He set his beer down and looked at her, "So I guess we've found Jane's thing. She's a gagster."

Kate nodded, "Yep. I can't wait to see what she does next."

Jane smiled, "Just wait till next year. Imagine what I can pull off if I have an entire year to plan."

Elliot frowned, "Oh good god help me."

Colin smiled wide, "Yeah, she's one of us alright!"


	15. Chapter 15

_**Ran just a little late here, Thank you Z for your valuable input and I solved that little dilemma. Your absolutely right it does play well into the series as well as later on in DOJ. Thanks bro. Appreciate.**_

_**To all of my other friends here. We're wraping up the Gun Show. Next project is kind of a dual deal. I'm putting together some one shots to tie Castle, and Rizzoli & Isles together. Not sure on a title but the continuation from DOJ is called Always and I'm going to post as soon as I reformat for posting.**_

_**In the mean time, enjoy. **_

* * *

><p><strong>Vendors' Bazaar - 12:30 Hours<strong>

Jane hated sitting around. She especially hated sitting around waiting to be brought attention. Kate hated it too which is why she tapped her partner on the shoulder and they quietly snuck away. Within a few minutes Kate was showing her the various clothing and equipment for sale at the bazaar.

She hated shopping and grumbled as Kate lead her there but as soon as she'd seen the various types of useful merchandise she got on board real quick. Kate had selected four sets of cargo's and placed an order for some new equipment to be delivered next year. She turned around and her partner wasn't standing behind her. She glanced around and found Jane sitting at the tactical boot display, slipping her foot into what Kate knew for fact were not comfortable boots.

She paid for her merchandise and headed over. She quickly yanked a set of Ariat tactical boots off the shelf and set them at Jane's feet.

"These are much better for what we do than those cheap things."

Jane looked up at her and regarded the boots. "Those are like a hundred bucks. These are sixty and they'll get me through a whole year."

Kate put one of her boots next to her, "They're a hundred and thirty and I've had mine for six years."

"I wear mine every day I work," She argued, "I've tried some of the better boots, they never last."

Kate picked up the bargain boot box, noted the size and set the box down again. She picked up the better ones and exchanged them for the right size and paid for them on her credit card. She returned to see Jane boxing up the other boots. Kate held up the bag that prominently displayed the Ariat Logo on it.

"Here's the deal." She said, "It's no risk. If they flop on you, it's on me but if they last you two years, you can pay me back for them."

Jane stared at her; "Are you kidding me? I can't take those."

"I'll just ship them to you in Boston if you don't take them now. I'll bet I can get Frost or Isles to ditch your original boots when you're not looking."

Jane growled low and snatched the boots out of her hand. She looked at the price tag and grumbled, "Pushy ass New Yorkers."

Kate smiled, "Just put them on and let's go before they call the CQB and we miss it."

Jane grumbled the entire time she laced them up and as she stood up, she stopped bitching. She looked down at her feet and up at Kate, "They're comfy."

"See?" Kate said.

"No, they're brand new off the rack, and their comfy." She stared incredulously, "No boot is comfy until they're broken in."

Kate waved a hand at her, "You'll thank me when they are broken in. Tuck your cargo's and let's go."

She grumbled again at Kate's jested pushiness and they headed back to the Amphitheater just in time to see Captain Marcus taking stage next to Colin.

He promptly steeped up to the microphone, "Good afternoon. My name is Captain Marcus and I was selected by Mr Huff, Colonel Sanchez, and Sergeant First Class O'Malley as an impartial observer of the CQB Round Five. After a careful review of the video and personally observing both teams in action, I have rated the final contest. If I could have our last four teams come to the stage at this time, we shall make the announcements."

Jane and Kate hustled up to the stage where they met SVU, Miami Narc and LAPD. Slightly embarrassed with the shopping bags, Griggs rescued them by taking the bags.

All four teams stood proudly as O'Malley took the small crate of trophies from Griggs and carried them to the small table.

He picked up a plaque and handed it to Captain Marcus who held it up, "Springfield Arms is proud to present this wall trophy to both semi-finalists' teams. The plaque is made of 100% Mahogany and the plating is brass made from the very shells you have fired in the CQB plus a few more."

He turned it to face him and read it aloud, "The Plaque bears the cannon and shield of Springfield and in a circle around the symbol reads 'Springfield Arms Training Center, Fort Justice Illinois. 2008.' Below is a statement dictated my CEO Gilbert Huff. It reads, 'In commemoration of the inaugural year of the Close Quarters Battle Competition, Springfield Arms is honored to present this award to the semi-finalists of 2008, Miami Police Department's Narcotics Detective Mateo Reyes and Narcotics Detective Marco Vargas. May you always watch each other's backs while protecting us all.' Miami Narcotics Team finished round four with a grand total of four hundred seventy two points."

He handed Colin the plaque and Colin carried another one as well. He presented both men with one and shook their hands while the crowd applauded.

Reyes held it up proudly and pushed up to the mike. "We had a lot of fun this year and we just wanted to say that we'll be back."

Vargas jumped in on the mike, "Yeah, it's been fun but next year we're coming for the first place trophy."

Captain Marcus laughed although it was clear that he hadn't appreciated the hocking of the microphone. He shook both men's hands and they headed back to their spot near the edge of the stage.

Marcus took the next plaque and it was the same thing. "'This honor is awarded to the semifinalist of 2008, Los Angeles Police Department's Division 1, Homicide Detective Sergeant Dani Reese and Homicide Detective Charlie Crews.' LAPD 1 finished Round Four with a grand total of four hundred and eighty three points."

Since Miami had jacked the mike, Marcus took a step back and allowed Colin to guide them up.

Reese looked out on the crowd and smiled, "I have to say that I honestly wasn't expecting to have this much fun and finishing in third is no small feat when you consider that we were against 29 other great teams."

Charlie nodded, "It's been an honor to compete with these fine officers and I'd just like to say that it was truly a blessing of life itself that allowed us to get to know such fine partners and fellow officers."

Colin grinned as more applause rang out. He passed around the plaques and shook their hands while Griggs set two trophies on the table.

Captain Marcus took one and held it up. It stood almost two feet high, made of a deep red mahogany with brass plating. Standing on top were two brass images of uniformed police officers at parade rest.

"The plating here reads, 'In gratitude of your participation in the Inaugural Year of the Close Quarters Battle Competition, Springfield Arms is honored to present this award to our Finalists of 2008, from the New York Police Department, 15th Precinct, Special Victims Unit Detective Olivia Benson and Special Victims Unit Detective Elliot Stabler'. SVU completed Round Five with a total of 587 points."

They came forward to applause and whistles as Jane and Kate hugged them both as they headed towards the microphone.

Elliot cleared his throat, "You know, this was one of the hardest competitions that we've ever had the privilege to participate in and it's been a heck of a challenge." He turned to O'malley, "I can't wait to see what you come up with next year."

Liv smiled and nodded. "As my partner said; this year was a challenge and I think it's important to remember that we train and we practice so hard for these things, not just for these annual competitions. This training isn't about the victorious triumph over our competitors." She sighed and her thoughts turned toward Jane.

Her memories of her cold in the shower, her fight with herself and how she and Kate had stood by her to offer comfort the surly detective would never accept. She hoped that she got through this time as she turned her attention back to the crowd.

"I think I can say that we each learned a lot about our partners and our friends," She held a hand out to NYB, "What we've learned was that we have a better chance of coming home each night because of the trust we have and I hope each of you gets to experience that kind of trust and commitment that I have this year; the kind that can bring friendship from the most unlikely places, even from rivalries."

She looked dead at Jane, "Go Yankees."

Jane scoffed at her as cheers, jeers, and a roaring applause echoed throughout the crowd. Liv could hear several other MLB team names being hollered but the point wasn't lost on Jane. She could tell by the warm smile on the young woman's face.

Marcus watched Colin present the trophies as Griggs put two more up. Both stood over two feet high. The first tier had the Springfield Logo molded in brass. The second tier had two men in flak jackets, badges on hip and guns drawn in a defensive posture.

"'In gratitude of your participation in the Inaugural Year of the Close Quarters Battle Competition, Springfield Arms is honored to present this award to the Championship Team of 2008, From the New York Police Department 12th Precinct, Homicide Detective Katherine Beckett and from the Boston Police Department Division 1, Homicide Detective Jane Rizzoli'. The New York – Boston Taskforce Team completed round five with a total of 589 points."

Jane groaned as the wolf whistles started up as she and Kate stood at the mike. Jane nodded to her partner.

"Truthfully, I didn't expect such a challenge and like Benson was saying, all of the fun things we do here are always in preparation for those times when you're in that situation where the only one you can count on is at your back." She turned to her partner, "Even though you're from Boston, I'd stand back to back with you any day, any situation."

Jane smiled as Kate took a step away from the mike, "You know, the thing about it is that I was expecting one of those sorry CSI seminars where you get five minutes in and start looking for the bar. My partner found me at that bar and told me she was going to show me the fun side of LETO and she did. And now it's almost over and I'm kinda bummed out because I found some great friends here and I don't want to wait until next year to see them again." She looked at Kate. "'My life for my Partner's, with no regrets.' We've said it in the CQB so many times and my only regret is that I can't say it out there on the street because I'm in Boston and you're in New York. But what I can tell you is that if you ever need me at your back, I'll be on the first thing smoking to get to you." She looked over to SVU, "Go Sox."

Kate slung an arm over Jane's shoulder as they walked away. The Amphitheater exploded in thunderous applause and cheers. Colin led the teams off the stage where handshakes and some drinks were passed out as other event leaders began presenting their awards.

They all agreed to drinks at the Shield when Jane felt a tap on her shoulder.

She spun around to find LT. Logan standing behind her. The tall Armory CO smiled as he held his hand out, "Nice going representing Boston, Detective."

She smiled and shook his hand, "Thanks LT."

He nodded, "The BPD order is ready so we can get it loaded and start heading back tonight."

She bit her lip. Even though she had grumbled the whole way here she found that she really didn't want to leave. She took a breath and looked up at him, "Hey, LT I'll make you a deal. You let us stay tonight and I'll drive the whole way back."

He looked at her as if she just sprouted a second head, "I thought you said the earlier we leave the better."

She nodded, "I know but that was before I knew." She hated admitting she was wrong but she took it like a trooper. "We're not scheduled to be back until Tuesday."

He smiled wide, "I had a feeling. I take it that you want to come back next year?"

She looked at him oddly, "Yes Sir, I would."

"Then I'm going to tell you a secret and if you can keep it, I'll make sure the ticket is always in your name."

He put an arm over her shoulder and pulled her close enough to speak directly into her hear, "Aside from registration, I haven't been on post until today."

She looked up at him, "Sir?"

He nodded, "My brother lives in Peoria. I don't get to see him except during LETO. So if you cover for me. Tell anyone who asks that you've seen me sign in, which you have, and that you didn't see me because you were doing your own thing. I'll make sure you come back every year."

She stared at him, "But I though Hill was your guy to come here with."

"Nah, he just wanted the paid vacation and he's hard to duck out on if you know what I mean."

She smiled, "He doesn't know."

"Nope," He said, "Because he can't keep his mouth shut. I knew that when I met him. You on the other hand, you know how to keep it quiet. I've seen you with your, um, relationships."

She looked at him, How in the hell could he know about me and Martinez?

He nodded, "We can stay till Sunday and you drive back. Deal?"

She looked at him wearily and held up her hand, "Deal."

He shook it, silently congratulating himself. "Go have fun, Detective. I'll see you Sunday."

She nodded and met with the New York cop that she had been in the games with. He nodded to them both and headed back to the parking lot. Silently pleased with himself and his assumptions of her.

Rizzoli could keep a secret with the best of them. She'd seemed uncomfortable when he mentioned that he knew about her relationship. Half of BPD had already made the assumption that Jane Rizzoli was seeing Dr. Isles and even though he'd never say anything, he knew that he had her secret and she had his about visiting his brother. They were partners in their own little conspiracy. He smiled as he climbed into his brother's caddy and headed away from Ft. Justice.

* * *

><p><strong>Ft. Justice LETO Parking Area<strong>

The weekend passed far too quickly for Jane's comfort and before she knew it, it was Sunday. Elliot was loading the cases into the Taxi as Liv hugged Colin, then Kate, and finally her.

Liv lingered a bit with Jane because they had a different kind of friendship. Jane had been there emotionally when she needed it these past ten days and although they didn't discuss it, Liv had been there when Jane needed it too.

She smiled warmly at the muscular woman. "Now don't forget that if you need me, even if it's just to listen, all you have to do is call."

Liv nodded, "Remember that when you're going through your own troubles. I'm just a phone call away."

She hugged her again, "You got it, Babe."

Elliot came over and held out his hand. "Jane, it's been a pleasure meeting you and I hope we'll see you soon."

She smiled at him, "Liv has my number for if I can help you guys out with anything. I'd give it to you but…'

He shook his head, "Oh no, my wife would have a fit if I came home with the number from a girl from Boston."

Liv laughed, "The only reason he has my number is because we're partners. I have to be the one to call Kate if we need something from 12."

Jane laughed, "She's a bit insecure, huh?"

"Only when it comes to Liv and I'm sure you already heard the story." He said with a grumble.

Jane looked thoughtful, "Oh you mean the crush. I think someone might have mentioned it."

He frowned, "Yeah, the crush." He shook his head as he held the door to the Taxi open for his partner. "It was just a crush."

"You're still a dumb ass." She said in good humor.

He shut the door after Liv settled in and waved, "I am that some days. That just happened to be the big one."

She waved as he climbed in and shut the door. The cab drove through the main gate and headed towards the freeway to carry them to O'Hare.

Jane smirked happily to herself. She had come up with the ultimate payback. Since Elliot had had so much fun with her over Maura. She had made a phone call to an agency in NYC. Dressed as a courier the male stripper would bring a packet to him and strip to the funeral dirge in front of his coworkers. Her only regret was that she couldn't be there to see it.

"I can't believe that you let Elliot go without trying to get back at him." Kate said from a few feet away.

Jane smirked, "Who said I let him go." The evil glint in her eyes said that letting Elliot go was the last thing on her mind.

"Oh boy." She said as she sat on her Softtail and patted the back seat, "Last chance, nonstop to New York City."

"Girl, that's not far enough east for me." She said, "and I've suffered the indignity of looking like your girlfriend enough this week on post. I don't need to kill my rep riding bitch on your bike across the country."

Kate laughed as she pulled out her helmet, "I told you before, I'll make you look good."

Colin chuckled, "Okay, I want invitations to the wedding," he laughed.

Kate looked to see if Jane was going to be angry and oddly enough, she wasn't.

"I'm not wearing a dress honey, so you get to be the girl." She joked.

Kate laughed again, "Darling, if we were gay, one look at me in a dress and you'd fall in love all over again. I'd ruin you for all men and women."

Jane laughed at the boast. "Honey, you wouldn't know what to do with this much Italian except get heartburn."

Kate smiled as she realized Jane had developed a sense of humor about being gay. She just hoped her new friend came to terms with actually being gay soon.

"Call me when you get back to Boston." She said, "We'll figure out which games we can hook up on."

She nodded, "Sounds good; can't wait to take you to Fenway."

"Likewise about Yankee Stadium."

As uncharacteristic as it was for her, Jane hugged her new friend and patted her on the back, "By the way, my bed at home sucks worse than the one here."

"I call the couch." Kate said and fired up her bike.

Jane took a step back and waved as her friend rode off.

She watched the bike disappear into the trees and sighed, "I think she's the coolest person I ever met."

Colin chuckled next to her, "Funny, she said the same about you."

Jane looked over at the Boston Police cargo van idling a few yards away. She didn't want to drive all the way back but she'd made the offer. Lieutenant Logan sat in the passenger seat after having courteously loading Jane's gear into the back.

She turned around and held her hand out to Colin. "It's been fun."

He shook his head and held out his arms, "We don't say goodbye like that in my house."

She laughed and stepped into his arms. He hugged her tightly and let go but rested his hands on top of her shoulders. "You take care out there and keep your head down. I want to see you back here safe and sound next year."

She nodded, "I'll be back."

Colin patted her shoulder and let her go. "You're a badass Jane Rizzoli. Don't let no one tell you different."

She waved to him as she climbed into the driver's seat and hooked up her seatbelt. She passed him another smile as she put it in gear and pressed on the gas pedal. In the rear view mirror she could see him standing there, watching her leave as she had her friends.

He waited until the van was out of sight before he schooled his face. Another year of being the ridged, unyielding soldier but he had made a new friend in Jane and he couldn't wait to see her and Kate take on the ideas already spinning through his head that he intended to put into the CQB. He smiled as he sat on his Harley. It had been a good year and he knew next year would be even better.

* * *

><p><strong>Two Weeks Later<strong>

Jane sat in the chair in Dr. Kirsch's Rhode Island office and she hated it. But she had made a promise to Maura and as much as she didn't want to think about why she wanted to give her friend whatever she asked for, she knew that Maura was only trying to help.

She had made plans with Maura to have breakfast the weekend after she got back from LETO but it had been a bad night. She had ended up passing out in her shower after a particularly bad episode. Having missed breakfast Maura had come over and found her nearly blue in the shower.

Maura gasped as she realized the temperature was set to cold. Maura had turned the shower up to a better temperature and awoken her friend. Jane had come out of her torture but Maura wouldn't let her leave the tub without explaining it.

Jane had finally given in and told her about the nightmares and the cold sweats and all the times she could feel Hoyt's scalpels in her hand. Maura had disappeared for a few minutes and came back with the anonymous email she had received.

Jane had gasped as she realized someone had sent it to Maura on purpose and she had a good idea who it was because she had only had one episode outside of her home. It also explained why the older woman had always been within arm's reach from that night on before putting Kate next to her.

But Liv hadn't said a word about it. Maura had researched and found that Dr Kirsch was the best person suited for Jane's PTSD and that the blonde woman would be discreet. Maura also swore that she would never reveal what she had seen that day.

True to her nature, Jane refused to acknowledge that she fought with it until Maura looked at her with those hazel eye shedding tears for her. Jane had been screwed from that point on, which left her siting in this office.

She rubbed her palms together as the platinum blonde psychiatrist calmly watched her.

"I really don't know what I'm doing here." She said sheepishly.

Dr. Kirsch didn't say anything as she watched Jane stroke the red scars on her hands.

"Well, I guess that's not true." Jane said as she looked at her hands, "I promised a friend I'd talk to someone. I…"

She sighed and ran both hands through her black hair and looked up at the doctor. "I can't do this if you're going to stare at me." She said defensively.

Kirsch merely nodded and in a smooth voice she said, "Close your eyes, Jane."

Jane eyed her wearily but complied, reluctantly. The thought of Liv's throaty voice saying those exact words was the reason she did.

"Keep them closed and just tell me why your friend made you promise to come see me."

She didn't know where to begin so she did the only thing she could think of, even though she'd rather face him again rather than do what she was about to do. But she had made a promise and for Maura, she would give her life to keep it.

Jane took a deep breath to steady herself and held up her scarred palms, "A man gave me these and… ever since then… I've been haunted by him… even though he's in prison. He's in my mind and in my soul and I can't get rid of him…"

* * *

><p><em><strong>Revenge of Jane Rizzoli. Thanks to both Z and my lovely wife for the suggestion. I tried to keep it on the very edge of good taste but this was irresistible. Pleas comment on this and the story in general as My Muse feels neglected.<strong>_

_**Expect the first post of Always by Sunday night. Leaning on the title for the one shots as The Adventures of Beckett & Rizzoli.**_


End file.
